Harder days might be coming with the coronavirus. Here’s how to meet them.

We are at the beginning of another exhausting and anxious week for our country. Covid-19 is spreading. The stock market has plummeted. Our lives are being shut down, piece by piece. We don’t know what harder days might come.

It is, we know, a somewhat helpless feeling. But while we are vulnerable, we are not powerless. And so, to all the recommendations you have seen and will see, we add three more.

Listen to the experts: If you think the media is overreacting to the threat of the coronavirus, fine. If you think the president is downplaying the spread because it hurts him politically, also fine. Listen to the experts, the scientists, the public health officials. They are not hard to find. They don’t have a political agenda. They have a loyalty to the facts, to their job and, in this case, to our health.

Those public health officials say this new coronavirus is deadlier than the flu. They recommend that we stay home whenever possible. They say millions could be infected. And they might be wrong. It’s also possible that they’ll be wrong only if enough Americans follow their advice and stop the spread from overwhelming hospitals as it has in other countries. What we do know is that they know more than us about this virus. We should act like it.

Emphasize solutions, not blame: This is a challenging one, including for editorial boards. Blame can be instructive — understanding what went wrong and who erred is often the first step toward changing behavior. That’s true, too, of the coronavirus. It’s important, for example, to note that the shortage of available tests in North Carolina and the U.S. contributes to Covid-19’s spread because health officials don’t have the information they need about where it is and how it’s moving.

But especially now, Americans should resist the temptation to point their finger for the sake of pointing their finger. We should emphasize the best paths forward, and we should encourage those who look to reach across politics and ideology. In North Carolina, we appreciated Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and Rep. Richard Hudson joining Democratic Rep. David Price this week to craft a letter to Vice President Mike Pence questioning the shortage of Covid-19 tests. We also appreciated Tillis applauding N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper for measures the governor took Thursday and again Saturday to slow the spread of the virus.

That kind of encouragement and partnership will be critical in the coming weeks as our leaders respond to this crisis. People we like to be wrong may be right. Now, more than ever, we need to be open to different approaches and differing philosophies.

Lift up others: Oregon runner Rebecca Mehra was walking into a grocery store Wednesday when she heard a voice coming from a car in the parking lot. “I walked over and found an elderly woman and her husband,” Mehra said in a Twitter thread that went viral. “She cracked her window open a bit more, and explained to me nearly in tears that they are afraid to go in the store.”

People are scared. They’re uncertain about their health and their livelihoods. We should lift them up in big ways and small. That means not only advocating for meaningful sick leave measures, but also grabbing only the toilet paper you need right now from the grocery store shelf. It means not only seeking help for the vulnerable in our communities, but being patient with people’s impatience. It means tipping really well.

We don’t know what’s ahead in the coming days or weeks. But we know what’s always been a simple but difficult truth — that our best path forward is one we walk together.

P.S. - Wash your hands.

This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 12:36 PM.