Yeah, because we didn't wear them! New Zealand figured it out pretty quickly, they won't have to live with this as part of their lives in the long run. Canada figured it out. Norway are reopening while Sweden are in shock that their government did nothing. Japan is more densely populated than the US is - THEY figured it out pretty quickly.
This is going to be a long term problem for because we chose it to be one. This was a choice we made. And it was stupid, because it was so simple: if you have to go out at all, wear a mask.