Goals:  The COVID-19 Community Task Force (CCTF)  seeks to help and support the efforts of the Pamlico County Health Department and Emergency Management Department to slow the spread of the virus. It encourages a County-wide community response to mobilize and focus all our resources to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Pamlico County. The CCTF will coordinate with the Pamlico County Emergency Management office and the Health Department to support and augment the County’s efforts in response to the pandemic.

Participants:  The CCTF is made up of volunteers from all over the county, with diverse experiences and expertise. From Olympia to Oriental and all places in between numerous individuals have stepped forward to donate hours of volunteer service and form a web of caring. Time spent contacting community and organization leaders by phone and email has accounted for many of these hours. The CCTF is chaired by Dr. Diana Silimperi, a Pamlico County resident and an international public health pediatrician, epidemiologist and global health innovator.

The CCTF has several Action Teams:

• a Community Response Network (the Network), designed to create a two-way conversation with the majority of the County’s residents through periodic email messages and phone calls between Network Coordinators and Network Contacts at over 120 churches and other organizations in the County. The Network creates a communication channel to and from existing organizations in the county and provides user-friendly information that can be utilized by the organizations in their existing outreach programs. The Network encourages the sharing of best practices,methods and resources among the various organizations and the appropriate County agencies.  Current participation = 120+ organizations; including churches, civic and non-profit service organizations.
• a Medical Surge team, created to support the Health Department’s efforts for testing, contact tracing, isolation of infected people, and expanding medical capacity. 
• The Masketeers, with the motto of “Covering Pamlico County One Mask at a Time”. This team includes people who are sewing cloth masks, people who are cutting fabric, and people who are delivering material and masks to others. 
• The Communications team develops user-friendly messaging that goes out to the Network, answering questions as they arise, and helping people understand how to minimize the effects of the virus on the health of the County and each individual within it. This team gathers information from government and scientific sources and develops guidance and recommendations based on these sources.