Americans knew back in March the coronavirus was infectious and dangerous and a return to normalcy eventually would require a vaccine.

Defeating COVID-19 was always going to be a slog requiring commitment and sacrifice. As we wrote in April, best to accept 2020 as The Year of the Asterisk in which we embrace upended reality and deal with work, school, recreation and social obligations as practically, realistically and cheerfully as possible. A wedding on Zoom? OK. Bring it.

November presents a difficult test because Illinois is caught in another surge of cases as part of an intensifying outbreak. Colder weather means more people are spending time inside. It’s also flu season. As of Friday there were more people in Illinois hospitals with COVID-like symptoms — 5,300 — than at any previous point during the pandemic.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicagoans to “cancel” normal Thanksgiving get-togethers. Gov. J.B. Pritzker threatened he will institute a statewide lockdown if necessary.

But what also presents a difficult test is trust and judgment. The state recently changed the way it reports data, the Daily Herald reported, lumping “probable” cases of COVID into actual test-positive cases. That creates confusion for Illinoisans trying to assess the risks of infection and transmission, and it stirs up suspicion among the suspicious.

Both Lightfoot and Pritzker joined celebrations out in the streets for Joe Biden’s presumptive victory, which seemed quite contrary — we’re being generous — to their constant finger-wagging to stay home and avoid crowds. Lightfoot told a national news station: “Yes, there are times when we actually do need to have ... relief and come together, and I felt like that was one of those times. That crowd was gathered whether I was there or not, but this has been a super hard year on everyone. Everyone feels traumatized.”

There are times when we need to come together? Like the holidays?

What we do know is we’re worn out — from the politicians not following their own dictates to the evolving, mandated protocols and to the shear isolation of staying home. Progress against the virus feels fleeting.

Thanksgiving is coming, and both Pritzker and Lightfoot are legitimately worried about spread. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the week after are the busiest air travel days of the year. Even a fraction of that activity during a pandemic is worrisome.

The state and city have issued guidance urging residents to stay home as much as possible, asking them to limit activities to necessities such as school, work, food shopping and picking up restaurant orders.

Our best, most optimistic advice is to take on Thanksgiving and the holiday season as joyful variations on a theme, which means find different, safe ways to celebrate and give thanks. Our favorite debate of the past week has been whether to describe a remote family gathering as Zoomsgiving or ThanksZooming.

Holding smaller gatherings is a reasonable ask. Thanksgiving is not canceled. But expecting a nation to stay in lockdown mode indefinitely is not realistic. Shutdowns have inflicted devastating economic consequences for families and business owners.

To some extent the pandemic isn’t different from other aspects of life — it requires accepting personal responsibility and thinking through consequences.

A key challenge of the pandemic is assessing the risks. Is it worth insisting on your traditional, extended family Thanksgiving get-together? COVID-19 is a new virus and not fully understood. Some basic assertions are holding true: It is potentially lethal, especially to the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions, but the mortality rate has declined since spring. It is highly infectious and can be passed on by someone who is asymptomatic, meaning a young healthy person can end up being responsible for an older person going to the hospital. Individuals and families need to keep their guard up and decide for themselves which daily activities need to avoided.

A predictive study published online by Nature magazine suggests a balance can be struck to keep people safe and protect businesses. The study, based in part on data collected from cellphones, used the Chicago area as an example and said that if restaurants partially reopened with capped maximum capacity at 20%, Chicago could cut down new infections by more than 80% while only losing 42% of overall restaurant visits. That is called compromise.