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Town of Merrimac Forms Emergency Management Committee to Support Residents Through COVID-19

MERRIMAC — Town Officials are announcing the creation of an Emergency Management Committee to provide residents with the information and resources they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Merrimac Board of Selectmen approved unanimously the creation of the committee at its Tuesday, April 28 meeting.

“The formation of this committee will allow us to ensure residents have access to the most up-to-date information regarding COVID-19,” Selectman Chairman Joel Breen said. “It’s critical that reliable, accurate information on this virus is easily accessible and digestible for the community in order to effectively prevent unnecessary spread.”

Members of the committee include Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Larry Fisher, Police Chief Eric Shears, Selectman Chairman Joel Breen, Selectwoman Holly Moran, Finance Director Carol McLeod, Public Health Nurse Eileen Stephanian, Board of Health Member Christine Berube, Town Clerk Gwen Lay Sabbagh, community member Anne Rundle  and Pentucket Superintendent Justin Bartholomew.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented, continuously evolving and seems to have touched the lives and daily routines of us all,” Fire Chief Fisher said. “This committee is comprised of local officials and community members from a variety of backgrounds in order to ensure we’re addressing the needs of everyone in Merrimac during this pandemic, and together we will be providing information and resources to assist residents through this time.”

The Emergency Management Committee will meet weekly on Wednesdays at noon through a remotely held meeting. The agendas and remote participation details for each weekly COVID-19 update meeting will be posted on the Town of Merrimac’s website here. During each meeting, the committee will review the number of cases of COVID-19 in Town, concerns regarding the virus in the community and any new or updated regional, state or federal guidance.

As of Wednesday, April 29, there are 9 cases of COVID-19 in Merrimac.

Merrimac Launches COVID-19 Blog

The Emergency Management Committee has crafted a COVID-19 emergency management blog which launched Wednesday, https://merrimaccovid19.com/.

The Town of Merrimac, with the creation of the Emergency Management Committee and the COVID-19 blog, is committing to regularly provide updates to the public on COVID-19 and the town’s response to the pandemic.

The blog will feature regular updates regarding the pandemic, and also lists the number of cases in Merrimac, state and federal guidelines, COVID-19 general information, quarantine guidance, prevention tips, social distancing guidance, informational resources such as Mass211, and service updates from the tax collector, water department, library and senior center.

“We’ve established this blog in an effort to provide a centralized source for residents to turn to for information on COVID-19 that is easy to access, understand and that addresses the questions they may have and the challenges they may be facing as a result of this virus,” Police Chief Shears said. “This is a step forward to making our communication efforts more streamlined as we work together to support our community during this crisis.”

Posts to the blog will be shared on various Town of Merrimac, Merrimac Police and Merrimac Fire Department social media accounts.

Further, residents can enter their email address at the bottom of the blog to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Residents are also reminded and encouraged to sign up for the CodeRED community notification system here or by texting “Merrimac” to 99411. Those who text to enroll will be sent the link to enroll for Merrimac alerts.

CodeRED sends important emergency alerts and time-sensitive messages to residents through their contact method of choice. Residents can choose to receive CodeRED alerts by landline, cell phone, email, text message, TTY, or a combination of those.

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