well above the hospital capacity. Flattening growth curve only helps hospitals when the curve is near the hospital capacity. Let’s say your city’s hospital has a capacity of 100 beds (maximum). If new arrival cases are 110 per week, yes, city mayor may make sacrifices by shutting down the city’s economy and other activities to slowdown infection spread so that we can lower new cases to below 100. I may still against this shutdown decision because we don’t know when the peak of the curve is. But this is another argument we all can talk about later. At least this shutdown decision to save hospital makes sense even I may disagree. The point here is if the curve is well above the hospital capacity, let's say the new arrival cases in your city are 200 per week, instead 110. Shutting down city to flatten the curve by reducing 10 new cases doesn’t improve the city hospital at all (It’s still fully occupied, no vacancy for new cases). But the shutdown will cost city huge.