That’s as it should be.

This is called a logarithmic scale and it’s very commonly used for phenomena which exhibit exponential growth, like compound interest, population growth — or epidemics.

A logarithmic scale is exactly the correct choice to display this data — a linear scale obscures much of the detail because it “slopes up too fast”. Worldometer offers both linear and exponential charts for all its data — take a look and you’ll see what I mean.

In fact, if this were a scientific or financial paper, this graph would be rejected by the referees if it did not use a logarithmic scale.

Think about your example again, in fact. If there are 10 infected people today, and 20 tomorrow, the disease is doubling — if this continues, then it’s time to panic. But if there are 1,000 cases today, and tomorrow there are another 10, making 1,010 in total, then we can conclude exactly the reverse — things are under control.

A linear scale — what you’re suggesting — misrepresents this growth. Only a logarithmic scale gives a realistic picture.

Umair was correct to use a logarithmic scale, and your criticism, while no doubt well-intended, stems from a lack of understanding of how data is analyzed and displayed.