In the new day of the novel coronavirus, a dry cough is no longer merely a dry cough. Your misbehaving allergies could be at fault, but maybe this new pathogen has taken up residence in your body. How to know?

Here are nine actions recommended by health experts and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get information about your health if you feel ill over the next few weeks or months.

Take a deep, cleansing breath. If you’re congested, do the best you can. If you are developing COVID-19, the upper-respiratory illness that results from infection by the novel coronavirus, you are most likely going to recover. Be calm.

Do an inventory of symptoms. Dry cough is one. Are you also short of breath? Do you have a fever? Normal body temperature is 98.6 Fahrenheit, and anything above 100…