“No person or family is immune to this virus,” Polis said in a statement, urging Coloradans to social-distance, wear face masks and take other measures recommended by public health officials.
The governor’s office said in a statement that Polis “will continue to be closely monitored” while he keeps working remotely. Earlier in the week Polis said that he was exposed to someone with the virus and had tested negative and would start to quarantine.
Governors have been central decision-makers in the United States’ pandemic response as each state charts its own path, with some leaders quickly embracing stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns and others wary of economic disruptions. Colorado is among a slew of states that have recently renewed restrictions in the face of a cold-weather surge of the virus.
Covid-19 hospitalizations and daily new cases have risen dramatically in Colorado in October and November, setting all-time highs far above the levels seen in the spring, according to data tracked by The Washington Post.
A number of governors have gotten the virus they are tasked with combating. On Wednesday, Republican Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon’s office said that Gordon had tested positive but had only “minor symptoms” and would go on working remotely.
The announcement brought new scrutiny on Gordon’s resistance to increasingly bipartisan calls for statewide mask orders. Earlier in the month, with coronavirus cases spiking across Wyoming and the country, experts and county health officers had urged him to enact a mandate.