March 5 – The International Criminal Court authorizes the Afghanistan War Crimes inquiry to proceed, reportedly allowing for the first time for U.S. citizens to be investigated.
March 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: Italy places 16 million people in quarantine, more than a quarter of its population, in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19. A day later, the quarantine is expanded to cover the entire country.
March 9 – International share prices fall sharply in response to a Russo-Saudi oil price war and the impact of COVID-19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plunges more than 2,000 points, the largest fall in its history up to that point. Oil prices also plunge by as much as 30% in early trading, the biggest fall since 1991.
March 11 – COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
March 12 – Global stock markets crash due to continued concerns over COVID-19 and the U.S. travel ban on the Schengen Area. The DJIA goes into free fall, closing at over −2,300 points, the worst losses for the index since 1987.
March 13 – COVID-19 pandemic: The government of Nepal announces that Mount Everest will be closed to climbers and the public for the rest of the season due to concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.
March 16 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997.10, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93%, an even greater crash than Black Monday (1929). This follows the U.S. Federal Reserve announcing that it will cut its target interest rate to 0–0.25%.
March 17
COVID-19 pandemic:
European leaders close the EU's external and Schengen borders for at least 30 days in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Euro 2020 and 2020 Copa América association football tournaments are postponed until the summer of 2021 by UEFA and CONMEBOL respectively.
March 18
COVID-19 pandemic:
The European Broadcasting Union announces that the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be cancelled due to COVID-19 in Europe, the first cancellation in the contest's 64-year history.
Solidarity trial, a WHO-sponsored group dedicated to finding a cure against COVID-19, is announced by Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom.
March 20
COVID-19 pandemic: The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 10,000 as the total number of cases reaches a quarter of a million.
Bhadla Solar Park is commissioned and becomes world's largest solar park.
March 24
COVID-19 pandemic:
India goes into lockdown to contain COVID-19. The total number of people in the world facing some form of pandemic-related movement restriction now exceeds 2.6 billion, a third of the global population.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang reports that the domestically transmitted epidemic was "basically blocked" and it is now under control. Two days later, China temporarily suspends entry for foreign nationals with visas or residence permits, effective midnight March 28.
The International Olympic Committee and Japan suspend the 2020 Summer Olympics until 2021. On March 30, the Summer Olympics are rescheduled from
July 23 to August 8, 2021.
March 26
COVID-19 pandemic:
Global COVID-19 cases reach 500,000, with nearly 23,000 deaths confirmed. The US surpasses China and Italy in total number of known COVID-19 cases, with at least 81,321 cases and more than 1,000 deaths.
Militants in the Philippines, Syria, Yemen, and Libya agree to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres' call for a ceasefire; some accept medical aid for themselves and civilians in their communities. Guterres also asked wealthy countries to provide $2 billion to aid in fighting the virus. Colombia and Venezuela discussed a common response to the global pandemic, and the UAE airlifts aid to Iran.
March 27 – North Macedonia becomes the 30th country to join NATO.
March 30 – 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war: The price of Brent Crude falls 9% to $23 per barrel, the lowest level since November 2002.
India
March 20 – Kamal Nath resigned from the post of the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, after a political crisis.
March 22 – Janata Curfew: India observed a 14-hour lockdown to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 23 - Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as the Chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
March 24 -- Prime Minister Modi announced a 21-day lockdown starting midnight of March 25 throughout India until 14 April to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
