JUST like the stock market: "Past performance does not guarantee future results".
The actual reality could be either way.
What I have not seen is an out and out exponential growth in the number 'cases' (UNLESS a really good coverup is in play!).
THAT is a good sign.
I don't think a really good coverup is in play, although the Chinese numbers are certainly suspect. They simply don't have a good system for tracking and reporting these things.
But the three major outbreaks outside of mainland China are in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Toronto. Each is an urban center, highly-educated, and with excellent medical facilities. They have also all instituted rather draconian measures involving quarantine, education, and screening. Without a doubt, they have been effective in stopping a more rapid spread of the virus.
In that sense, we have been lucky. It hasn't hit population centers where facilities are poor, or where the government is incapable of taking strict measures.
Given what we know about how contagious this can be (think of all the health care workers who know the SARS risks who still become infected), it might very well become exponential in its spread if the disease is allowed to spread.
I'm not that worried about Toronto right now, and things don't get much stricter or cleaner on the planet than Singapore. China is another matter, and bears the closest watching.