Laurel to the spirit of community, volunteerism and goodwill that find themselves trickling through Salisbury and Rowan County during the COVID-19 outbreak.

It can be found most easily in many people who are sewing masks to protect nurses, friends and neighbors from the spread of coronavirus. The masks are not a panacea, but they represent one of many steps the general public can take to slow the spread, especially if everyone follows recommendations like social distancing, frequent hand washing with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.

We have not reached the virus’ spread here. Test results are taking more than a week to return a negative or positive result in some cases, and the many samples that are waiting in a lab will return more positive results here.

To help minimize future spread and ensure that the health and knowledge of our community’s children don’t decline, Salisbury and Rowan County need people to continue to donate their time and talents. For some, that may be making masks or other protective gear, but it may be tutoring the children of friends or neighbors. It might be as simple as calling a neighbor with underlying health conditions to check up on them or offering to do shopping for someone who’s at a greater risk.

By working together and following health guidelines, Salisbury and Rowan County can make COVID-19 a short-lived problem here.

Laurel to the Rowan County Health Department and county government staff for continuing to increase the breadth of information released on a daily basis about people diagnosed with COVID-19 here.

For the second time in a row on Wednesday, county government released a list of information about local patients, including average age, total samples submitted, how the virus was acquired and, most importantly for many Post readers, the number of patients who have recovered.

Just as Post reporters have asked for more information than a number of cases per day, the public has echoed those questions — some contacting county officials directly.

We believe the data currently being provided by the county provides the public and health care professionals with valuable information they can communicate to their friends, neighbors and patients. The county should keep up the good work.

Laurel to the many people who have donated to the COVID-19 Relief Fund.

As of Wednesday morning, the fund had raised more than $22,000 to help people whose lives have been altered by COVID-19. The United Way, which is managing the funds, has now started accepting grant applications from nonprofits.

As the application process continues and the virus continues spreading, the fund will need more donations to help people pay expenses that paychecks previously covered. Donations of any amount will help. The easiest way to donate is by visiting rowanunitedway.org and clicking on the COVID-19 Relief Fund link at the top of the page