It isn't bungling.
It is something that doubles every 3 days and has a 20 day delay between measures and results.
How quickly it doubles is not an intrinsic property of the virus. It has to do with our response. What you were doing before, when, and after a given point matters.
And there is bungling involved. Because we had people who knew this would be a problem since January. We had people who knew what we'd need for testing, that we were going to need protective equipment, and ventilators, since that time. Failure to move on these things months ago constitutes bungling.
So when you see 2 deaths in a day, you have already locked in 250 deaths/day in 20 days
Not if you are prepared, and testing, and ready to respond. South Korea did not experience this - they were prepared, and responded appropriately.