Because the long incubation period and the lack of sufficient testing makes it impossible to know which cities are infected early on.

And, to put more bluntly, because we have two models to look at and choose from: the Chinese one, with harsh containment measures that were very effective (if you believe their numbers) and the Italian one, with moderate containment measures and a lack of sense of urgency from the populace, which resulted in a downward spiral with more deaths than China despite having only ~58% the number of cases.

> I should have said, ”In some areas”.

And no, you shouldn't have said that, you should just wait another week.