Leadership in the US Government wasted a lot of time trying to play down the pandemic [1] as did large (conservative) news organizations [2]. Both are now trying to blame China, arguably to shift blame from themselves.

It didn't need to be that way; South Korea's government action back in January helped them while the US Government's action hindered response [3].

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/trump-coronavirus...

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/on-fox-news-s...

[3]https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-testin...