German politicians were downplaying the possible impact of the coronavirus for weeks, with Health Minister Jens Spahn repeatedly assuring Germans that the situation was "under control" and that the country was well prepared.
But this assessment has been overturned - Germany is nearing 120 cases and has become one of the most infected countries in Europe.
Mr Spahn, of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party, now expects the virus to spread further: "We are at the beginning of a corona epidemic."
Critics are increasingly complaining that Germany is not doing enough. Only 60 beds in hospital isolation wards are available nationwide, and it is also doubtful if there are enough medical personnel to cope with an epidemic.
The shifting mood is mirrored by the fact that many public events have been called off, most prominently the Berlin ITB, one of the world's largest travel shows, which usually attracts 160,000 or so visitors.
Some supermarket shelves are empty, face masks and sanitisers are sold out, and companies are advising employees to stay at home.
Consultancy firm Ernst & Young has been sending home all its 1,500 employees in Dusseldorf after one case was detected.
The rising nervousness is flanked by media coverage that too often sounds an alarmist note instead of providing sound information.
"The media is reporting too many facts that are actually unimportant," said Dr Markus Schafer, a health expert at the University of Mainz. "Reporting every minute about every single suspicious case is not helpful."
World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted last month: "We're not just fighting an epidemic; we're fighting an infodemic."
The Lancet medical journal commented a few days ago: "A global epidemic of misinformation - spreading rapidly through social media platforms and other outlets - poses a serious problem for public health."
ARD and ZDF, the two main German public TV channels, are trying to give experts a platform.
One of them is virologist Christian Drosten of the Charite hospital in Berlin, who has become a familiar face on television. "In the next couple of days, we will see individual new cases as well as small groups of cases springing up like mushrooms," he said.
Germany will be one of the countries in Europe with the highest case numbers, "because our population is fond of travelling", he added.
Professor Alexander Kekule, another well-known medic and biochemist, said on ARD: "The health authorities should no longer play the situation down. Timely briefings might have prevented the first corona cases in Germany."
Prof Kekule warned against taking the same measures as Italy: "If entire cities and regions are cordoned off, this will only result in people locked up infecting each other".
