Removing petals on pollinated orchid

[Phal-lover]

Hello! I've recently pollinated some of my orchids. Only one was done successfully. (Two withered and fell off, and one I knocked off accidentally) however, the other is chugging along and developing quite nicely. It's petals have withered, but the stamen is wrapped around the pollen and stem and is still alive. The dangling petals have become infected with some sort of mold. My worry is that it will spread, ruin the chances of a seed pod and hurt the plant. Can I remove the petals?