Politics may be messy, but for a brief minute on Thursday afternoon, the process was at least a little bit more sterile.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) tested positive for COVID-19 Saturday, just two days before a special legislative session he’d called to respond to the pandemic was set to start.
The special session adjourned Wednesday, leaving Polis with 10 high-priority, COVID-19-related bills to sign. But how does one go about signing time-sensitive legislation in quarantine?
As Polis phrased it, “Bill signing, COVID style.”
Translation: Lots and lots of Lysol.
After fumigating the bills, Polis says he handled them with gloves and arranged for a state trooper to courier them to the state capitol.
The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the specifics of Polis’ process.
That means questions like, “Could he have just signed these digitally?”, “Could he have used an autopen?” and “Why not wear a mask and gloves while signing them?” went unanswered. (We’ll update this story if we hear back.)
While spreading the virus via contaminated surfaces is possible, especially if one touches a contaminated surface and then touches their eyes, nose or mouth afterward, current research suggests the primary vector for COVID-19 is respiratory droplets spread from person to person.
So while Polis’ lemon-scented performance may be justified given the circumstances, there’s no need to employ similar efforts if you’re COVID-19-negative and are going about your daily life.
Practicing good hygiene ― washing your hands, disinfecting high-touch surfaces like doorknobs and phones ― should suffice. And wear a mask.
For more on what you still should and shouldn’t be disinfecting, check out our guide here.
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