Before revision: As the COVID-19 epidemic spreads around the globe, countries rely on non-pharmaceutical interventions to slow the outbreak. An overarching aim is to flatten the epidemic curve so as to not exceed health care capacity limits. Inherent to this strategy is the assumption that with increasing mitigation strength the peak of the epidemic curve continuously decreases.
After revision: High impact epidemics constitute one of the largest threats humanity is facing in the 21st century. Testing, contact tracing and quarantining are critical in slowing down epidemic dynamics, but may prove insufficient for highly contagious diseases. In the absence of pharmaceutical interventions, physical distancing measures remain as the last resort to avoid a widespread outbreak. Here we show that such combined countermeasures drastically change the rules of the epidemic curve continuously decreases.