I don’t think we can use Japan, South Korea or Taiwan as examples. They are all Island nations. And they have a good handle on the source of their outbreaks.
The US and Europe have open boarders. And they have many ports and various points of human to human contact with China and other infected countries. The ports and colleges are the two areas that have produced the most widely spread infections. Germany, and France are probably more like America than other countries.
America is doing fine. We are not set up for this at all. But like with a war. We adapt quickly. America is based on chaos not perfection. We identify adjust react and adjust again. This is how we win wars. Its how we run our economy and increase production. Perfection assumes that we are very good at one thing. America is good at adapting to the newest thing. Like any of our wars, we start out with missteps then we get the right people in place with the right equipment, and we kick ass. That is what is going on here.
Plus, they are not multi-cultural nations.