There are other hints, maybe, that bipartisanship isn’t quite dead.

In addition to death, destruction and a spirit of panic, the coronavirus may also be delivering what no politician in years has been able to achieve: bipartisan agreement in Washington.

Romney wasn’t the only Republican on Monday to endorse including direct cash payments in a stimulus package. Tom Cotton, a conservative senator from Arkansas, appeared to be standing to Nancy Pelosi’s left when he criticized a bill negotiated between the House and the White House.

The proposed legislation “doesn’t go far enough, and it doesn’t go fast enough,” Cotton said on Fox News on Monday. “I and a lot of other senators who I’ve spoken to over the weekend are worried that we’re not doing enough to get cash into the hands of affected workers and families quickly.”

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has said he wants to pass the House bill immediately — words that are rarer than platinum from him. That bill includes access to free coronavirus testing, paid leave for displaced workers, expanded unemployment benefits and food stamps, and extra Medicaid funding.

For weeks, President Trump was slow to publicly acknowledge the severity of the coronavirus threat, but even he has begun to emphasize the need for drastic action. On Monday he discouraged gatherings of 10 or more people. “Each and every one of us has a critical role to play in stopping the spread and transmission of the virus,” he said in comments to reporters. “We’d much rather be ahead of the curve than behind it.”

Still, a partisan divide persists among the general public, driven in part by the differing stories being told by mainstream and conservative news outlets.

An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted at the end of last week found that while a majority of Democrats described themselves as “very concerned” about the coronavirus spreading to their community, just 17 percent of Republicans said the same. Interestingly, the number among independents was nearly as low: 20 percent.