The past week has shown us a major difference in how two top elected officials have handled the coronavirus.

Both President Trump and Gov. Ralph S. Northam and their wives tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.

Gov. Northam immediately went into isolation at the Executive Mansion, with state officials launching tracing efforts to find and notify all who had come into close contact with the couple. Gov. Northam’s office also issued a statement to the public about his positive test and what was happening.

By comparison, President Trump got on a plane and headed to his New Jersey resort, where he hobnobbed with supporters at a fundraiser that raked in $5 million for his re-election campaign, even though, according to media reports, he knew his close aide Hope Hicks had tested positive for the coronavirus that morning and his own rapid results test may have shown he was positive.

President Trump, his aides and doctors were less than forthcoming about his condition. And even after being hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., President Trump had Secret Service agents drive him in a sealed presidential SUV up and down the street outside the hospital so he could wave to supporters. The president cared little about whether he was putting the health of the Secret Service and others at risk.

When he left the hospital Monday night and returned to the White House, he made a show of taking off his face mask and was seen closer than 6 feet to a photographer and videographer that he had documenting it all.

He later tweeted that people shouldn’t “be afraid” of COVID-19 or let it “dominate” their lives. “We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge,” he stated on social media.

Facebook and Twitter, however, blocked his false claims that the coronavirus is less deadly than the flu.

All of this is further proof that our commander in chief is selfish, egoistic and gives little regard to those who work for him, his supporters, the people of this nation or the 211,000 people who have died as a result of COVID-19 and their families.

Gov. Northam, a physician, is abiding by the protocols health experts advise regarding COVID- 19. While he was asymptomatic when he was first tested and was about to be released from isolation, Gov. Northam developed mild symptoms during the weekend and remains quarantined inside the Executive Mansion and away from people. He released a video Monday explaining the new occurrence and he advised Virginians to take precautions — wear masks, wash their hands and socially distance — to stay safe and well.

The governor called President Trump’s tweets “irresponsible.”

That was kind. Social media has been lit up with more fitting words and descriptions.

But the point is this: Why should America be stuck with such an incompetent buffoon for another four years? These 3 3⁄4-years with President Trump have been too much. America needs a real leader who genuinely cares about the health and safety of the people.

Tuesday, Oct. 13, is the deadline to register to vote in the presidential contest. Already, more than 650,000 Virginians have voted in person or sent in absentee ballots.

Please don’t let the deadline pass you by. If you’re not registered, it only takes a few minutes. You can register online at elections.virginia.gov, at a local voter registrar’s office and at any other location where voter registration efforts are taking place locally.

Our health and our future are too important to sit out this election.