For me, it was the coordination among the media outlets to pitch the same hysteria over and over very early on. Next was all of the tv ads for various products/services, all singing the same message "We're in this together" etc... Soon thereafter it was more tv ads with many "celebrities" pitching the same lines. That was all in a matter of a few days, IIRC.
Something about all of that media synchronization from the get go stunk like a Russian fishing trawler.
Yep, the media coordination to foster hysteria was over the top.