More deadly viruses tend to kill its victim faster, before disease can be transmitted. Also, despite being Novel, COVID-19 could be mistaken for flu or be invis

More deadly viruses tend to kill its victim faster, before disease can be transmitted. Also, despite being Novel, COVID-19 could be mistaken for flu or be invisible, so could go undetected for longer periods. Countries grew fatigue from the scares of earlier epidemics like swine flu and avian flu, so waited until danger was "evidently on their doorstep". With better testing, this could've been nipped in the bud worldwide. Also, with proper pandemic preparations and alertness, countries wouldn't need to shut down. Shutting down proactive measures to save small amounts of money, costs much, much more in the longer run. You will witness every decent country hit by unconstrained exponential contagion, shutting down. When it's too late, or people can't be bothered, they become Italy, Spain and Worse.