As COVID-19 shuttered her offices at Duke where she is a Visiting Professor of the Practice of Global Health at Duke’s Global Health Innovation Center, Diana Silimperi headed for the coast to shelter in place with her husband in their home on the Pamlico Sound.
A global health physician with more than 30 years of experience, Silimperi wasn’t content to remain idle for long. She knew that mounting an effective response to COVID-19 would require community engagement. Earlier this month, she presented her ideas [https://towndock.net/news/pamlico-commissioners-get-covid-19-update] to the Pamlico County Commissioners and received their endorsement. The COVID-19 Community Task Force was established as a volunteer organization working closely with the Pamlico County Health Department to to engage the community in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and to support and augment the county’s efforts by:
- harnessing the full range of community resources to advise, make recommendations, and increase support for the Health Department, Emergency Management, and County Commissioners
- creating a COVID-19 Community Response Network of community organizations (churches, social organizations, nonprofits) to reach out to their members with information and support
- developing voluntary Medical Surge capacity to support the Health Department in its responsibilities such as contact tracing
“The county is fortunate to have someone with Diana’s experience,” said Pat Prescott, Chairman of the Pamlico County Commission. “The COVID-19 Community Task Force will be an excellent resource to support our county’s effort to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 for our citizens.”