Dear god those charts are useless. Different scales all lined up next to each other, no clue as to the value of the bottom of the y axis, no clue as to what the baseline or the peak numbers are, no ability to actually inspect the data... Who are they hiring to do this nonsense at NYT?
They're not intended for comparing chart to chart, there's a table with key numbers below, and links at the bottom to country-by-country, state-by-state, and "look up your city" options.
It's a "look at the spikes" illustration in the spot in an article a big photo would typically go.