For March, there were a number observations that one can make:
1. Folks woke up around the first of March to discover that a ski-weekend in Austria (at Ischgl) had been a turbo-blaster for the virus. Hundreds attended, left for their hometowns through Europe, and took the disease with them. It would take two weeks for all the experts to agree on this, and basically quarantine the entire resort. All throughout Germany, these ski enthusiasts returned, and spread the virus even further.
2. On the 2nd of March, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the premier health group to have all of the data....came out and said that the threat level for Germany was now 'moderate'. At this point, you could officially start worrying because they could see the infections being reported nationally. A day after this....the national association for doctors went to full-blast with the statement that there simply weren't enough masks, gowns, gloves, etc.
3. Two days would pass, and it was announced in a public statement that there just wasn't enough hand sanitizer in the country. Yes, a national shortage. Basically at this point....folks were told the chief ways of making sanitizer out of a couple of elements.
4. The 6th of March came with the Health Minister (Spahn) speaking out on the topic of halting schools and universities. His commentary? No....don't shut nothing down. On the topic of travel restrictions within the EU? No. The only thing he did recommend was that unnecessary travel should be dropped. Don't go anywhere unless it was essential.
5. Also coming on the 6th of March....both German authorities and the EU came out and said that masks and disinfectants should NOT be used by healthy non-infected people. Yes, it may sound amusing now, but they both agreed on this 'lecture' to the general public.
6. Two days would pass, then on the 8th....the German Health Minister said that any event that had more than 1,000 participants.....needed to be cancelled. One concert group made a change to the program....limiting it to 999 people....to ensure they obeyed the order.
7. German soccer by the 8th....was discussing how things would proceed. They figured they could operate until early May (near the end of the regular season).
8. 9 March came the first announcement of a Covid-19 death in Germany. A daily tally started at that point.
9. On 10 March, Chancellor Merkel finally came out and made a dramatic appearance. Her chatter? She anticipated that a minimum of 60-percent of German society would eventually have the virus (out of 83-million total in population).
10. 11 March came with a dramatic piece by the Health Minister that everyone needed to wash their hands (with soap). Shocker? Well....his main point was that you didn't need disinfectant. So started this video piece (by literally hundreds of people)....on how to wash your hands correctly. Virtually all Germans will tell you that they've seen at least ten versions of the hand washing routine.
11. 12 March....big shocker, the US cuts off entry from Europe. There's not a single German political figure who was briefed on this ahead of time.
12. On 13 March, the school and university closure order came....from fourteen of the total sixteen states. Again, this was not a federal thing....it was a state thing. This is also the day when soccer leagues were halted entirely. The financial woes of the leagues were now in full display. And this was the day when financial support was agreed upon for various companies.
13. What you can say around the middle of March is that most all event situations (bowling, theaters, indoor pools, etc) started a shut-down process....based on states issuing 'bans'.
14. The 15 March local election in Bavaria turned in a fairly big mess. This was for city councils, mayors, etc. A number of the 'hands' that would have run the ballot process simply dropped out or refused to participate. On the next day (a Monday)....a massive Bavaria order came down, and crippled up public facilities. This affected virtually everything (grocery operations, drug stores, etc).
15. The 17th of March came, and RKI came to the next level of 'threat'....HIGH. A mobile hospital was ordered placed by the Bundeswehr in Berlin. At a refugee center between Erfurt and Bamberg....a non-German came up positive on the virus test, which triggered a fair amount of hype among the various individuals at the compound. Escape attempts were made, and a fair amount of chaos ensued. It's on the 17th that Chancellor Merkel finally issues a German order, which is stamped EU-wise as well....non-EU citizens are forbidden entry into the EU.
16. The next day arrives, and all borders to Germany are shut down....period. Other than truck drivers....everyone is stuck where they are. RKI by the end of the day will be talking about ten-million infections in Germany within two months (this is mostly based off a model, so don't get excited). This is the day when the 1.5-meter distance thing comes up.
17. On 19 March....the Chancellor meets with the sixteen Premier-Presidents and the chief topic is....curfew nationwide, to come on 22 March. There's a fair amount of questions from the public, and this is the moment when people are reflecting upon a big mess.
18. On 20 March....Bavaria jumps ahead of everyone with it's own curfew. If you aren't essential, you are supposed to stay home. If you aren't going to a doctor's appointment, the grocery, the drug store.....the cops can ticket you. Panic buying goes full-blast turbo at this point...across all sixteen states.
19. On 22 March, the next rule gets issued by the federal government. Meetings in public of more than two people? Forbidden. Cops have ticket authority. Hospitals are talking of major shortages of masks. For the record, most all masks up to this point...were made in China. There is a major effort over March and April by Germans themselves to make their own masks.
20. On 25 March, the first real stimulus package gets drafted up....in the 150-billion Euro range.
21. 28 March....first significant suicide occurred....the Hessen Finance Minister. He had serious stress going on over how they would pay for various programs and simply a lack of capital to fund everything.
22. 31 March came with the first German city (Jena) which made masks mandatory. Doctors were now condemning the government for lack of protective gear. News teams covered the events, and public outrage ensued.
For the entire month, the highlight was the turbo start of the virus because of the ski event in Austria, and reality that high numbers (via models) were now being predicted. In simple terms, Germans were now scared of what being suggested.
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