With the Princess passengers flown back to the USA apparently against CDC advice, the bureaucratic muddling in the unfolding of this pandemic seems to be a necessary groundwork for it to spread. This does not count all the travelers that have returned from China and other nearby countries since December of last year. And the CDC has yet to produce a consistent batch of good test kits in any number.
By mid-March the doubling will have happened twice if the 6-7 day time is correct. My hope is that by then the stalling and obfuscation will be overwhelmed by facts on the ground. It feels like we will repeat the example of Wuhan.