Phase Three in the state’s coronavirus reopening plan debuted Monday and we have one more stop before we’re back to normal, right?

We can only hope.

A quick glance around the country — where the misery and fear Massachusetts experienced in April is exploding from California to Texas to Florida — should warn us the last step just might be the one most fraught with danger. 

Gyms, movie theaters, libraries and museums are all opening their doors. The return to workouts and entertainment is an overdue welcome relief we can enjoy if we don’t let our guard down. 

The Great Data Collector himself — Gov. Charlie Baker — repeatedly reminds us that a misstep forward could very well send us sliding two or three steps back.

The nation’s biggest states are rushing to re-close businesses and belatedly introduce mandatory mask rules after seeing coronavirus case numbers spike and hospitals fill up. 

Massachusetts doesn’t have to join the backslide avalanche. The basic precautions we were asked to embrace three months ago will see us safely along that cautious path back to normal, or the new semblance of normal. 

We need to wear masks because coronavirus best thinking informs us that the virus’ spread is airborne. We need to socially distance politely and without a lot of drama to add that extra layer of protection against coronavirus’ spread. We need to do what we were told back in early spring: Wash our hands frequently and thoroughly.

If we accept and utilize these measures with a spirit of maturity and stop politicizing or trivializing this deadly disease, then we can reclaim our lives in full even as the full-court press to develop vaccines proceeds.

If we fail to learn the lesson that is now being brutally hammered home in other states, then we will be on a nightmarish merry-go-round marked by more cases and more deaths. 

Tread lightly into Phase Three.