Maggie Siddiqi is the director of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress. She is Muslim and lives in Washington, DC. Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons is a fellow with the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress. He is Baptist and lives in Louisville, KY. The views expressed here are theirs. Read more opinion on CNN.

(CNN) "I don't believe whether you go to church during this period of time is a test of faith," Kentucky governor and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) deacon Andy Beshear said last week as he called for churches to cancel in-person services because of the coronavirus. "I believe God gives us wisdom to protect each other and we should do that."

Maggie Siddiqi

Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons

Governor Beshear is not alone. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has suspended public gatherings at its more than 30,000 congregations across the globe "until further notice." Saudi Arabia has halted travel to the Islamic holy sites in Mecca and Medina. And the Vatican began live-streaming mass online and Pope Francis is holding prayers and public audiences via videolink

While gathering together with our communities in worship is central to both of our faiths, so is the preservation of life. Faith communities are right to cancel services and are leading where the federal government's slow response has failed. Faith communities are prioritizing the health and protection of their communities through social isolation, which is the faithful response to the coronavirus.

We've both witnessed the cancelation of services in our own respective religious communities. The All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center, which averages 9,000 people across 10 locations in the Washington, DC area for Friday prayers, suspended them on Friday, an unprecedented move, declaring congregational prayers "impermissible" if they put people at risk of harm. Meanwhile, not far from Governor Beshear's own church in Kentucky, Highland Baptist Church in Louisville did not hold in-person worship services Sunday. Ministers instead led a worship service on Facebook. Both ADAMS and Highland Baptist will be closed for at least the next few weeks.

We were proud of our faith leaders' decisions, even though we would have liked to be with our communities, praying with and supporting one another during this troubling time. It demonstrated incredible leadership to move swiftly, and we wish our President had done the same. In a press conference Monday, he belatedly did adopt a more sober and pragmatic tone and urged more caution than he had to date.