A novel infectious pathogen to which a population has no immunity will generally spread exponentially in the early stages, while the supply of susceptible individuals is plentiful. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 exhibited exponential growth early in the course of infection in several countries in early 2020. Many factors, ranging from lack of susceptibles (either through the continued spread of infection until it passes the threshold for herd immunity or reduction in the accessibility of susceptibles through physical distancing measures), exponential-looking epidemic curves may first linearize (replicating the "logarithmic" to "logistic" transition first noted by Pierre-François Verhulst, as noted above) and then reach a maximal limit.