What a difference a week makes.

In the few days that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been in office, Americans — and our allies abroad — are seeing an incredible sea change in the direction of this nation.

Already, President Biden has signed at least 40 executive orders that put the brakes on harmful, damaging policies, initiatives and directives launched under former President Trump.

The newly inked executive orders finally are putting into place a national strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. They also stop the detrimental environmental practices undertaken by a president who cared little about protecting the environ- ment or the impact of climate change on future generations.

Additionally, the orders halt the construction of a ridiculous border wall between the United States and Mexico that was wasting precious resources. They also reinforce the imperative for equity and fairness for people of color and the LGBTQ community.

Among President Biden’s orders:

•Creating the position of COVID-19 response coordinator, who will advise the president and oversee the distribution of vaccines, tests and other supplies, and a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to provide recommendations on allocating resources and funding in light of “disparities in COVID-19 outcomes by race, ethnicity and other factors.”

•Requiring masks to be worn and social distancing in all federal buildings and on all federal property.

•Extending the freeze on federal student loan repayments during the pandemic.

•Repealing the ban on transgender people serving openly in the military and expanding federal protections against discrimination to include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

•Rejoining the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

•Revoking the permit for the 1,200-mile Keystone XL pipeline to carry crude oil from Canada through the United States, including through Native American lands and placing a temporary freeze on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic refuge.

•Requiring that undocumented immigrants be counted in the Census.

•Directing the Department of Labor to develop recommendations to increase the minimum wage for federal employees to $15 per hour.

Directing the Department of Agriculture to allow emergency increases in food stamp benefits, also known as SNAP, as well as additional food benefits for families whose children normally would receive free or reduced-price meals at school.

•Directing the U.S. attorney general not to renew federal contracts with private prisons.

•Directing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to examine the effect of previous administration regulatory action that undermined fair housing policies and laws and to use the findings to implement the Fair Housing Act’s standards.

•Requiring federal agencies to conduct equity assessments and reallocate resources “to advance equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.”

•Urging the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance on cultural competency and sensitivity toward Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders and directing the U.S. attorney general to work to prevent discrimination and hate crimes.

That’s not all, but that’s a lot in just a week’s time. It also sends a clear signal to Americans that the new Biden-Harris administration intends to live up to its promise of aligning the nation closer to its ideals.

America’s allies also heralded the change, noting that the United States is rejoining global efforts for good and eschewing the selfish, “U.S.A. first and only” policy of the past administration.

Some dyed-in-the-wool Trumpsters already are loudly criticizing President Biden’s quick use of executive orders. But we remind them that President Trump used that executive power to try to undo as much of the progress of the Obama administration as possible.

But President Biden learned from serving eight years under the nation’s first African-American president that progress made by execu- tive order isn’t enduring. That’s why President Obama fought to put the Affordable Care Act into law — through legislation passed by the Congress — so that millions of previously uninsured Americans could rest easy knowing their new health care would be safe from those who would seek to snatch it away in the future.

President Trump, an egoist consumed by his own power, used execu- tive orders to try to roll back other policies put in place by President Obama. But his administration was built on sand, giving President Biden an opportunity to bring about quick but sweeping change.

We look forward to seeing the legislation that will come next.