Two lines of thinking here

Italy coronavirus

There are two possibilities here:

1) The less-bad case

Something about Italian and Italian genetics makes it more lethal there. In Italy, there are now 6 deaths and 219 cases, which is 2.7%. In Iran there are 12 deaths and 61 cases (19.6%). Both those ratios are higher than in China and it's still early in both those countries with the remainder of cases likely to get worse. In Italy 25 patients are in intensive care.

This is the less-bad case because it means there aren't many unidentified cases out there so it can be contained.

2) The worst-case

If the virus is no-more lethal in Italy or Iran then it means there are significantly more cases out there. Those people likely think they have a cold or the flu and are out in the community infecting more people, ensuring a global pandemic.

What I believe is that we're past the point where this can be stopped. If there were hidden cases waiting to blow up in Italy, Iran and South Korea, there is surely the same phenomenon elsewhere. It's only a matter of time until the numbers explode and the WHO moves from quarantine/contain to managing a pandemic.