Delaware County got a look at its new public health department team, led by its new health director Melissa Lyon, at a press conference Tuesday in Media.

Everything is in place to open. All that’s needed is the final approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, writes Erin McCarthy for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Approval is coming very soon, hopefully,” said Melissa Lyon, the recently-hired director of the Delaware County Public Health Department.

The team outlined the public health department’s role and activities.

Lyon said COVID is still the No. 1 public health issue, impacting morbidity and mortality in the community. The pandemic response will be the new department’s highest priority for now.

Lyon was the former public health director and COVID-19 response incident commander for the Erie County Health Department.

The Delaware County Health Department will work on infectious disease control and investigation, maternal health, childhood immunization and public health education.

It will standardize food and sanitation inspections, as required by the state. Currently, each municipality handles those tasks.

“We do all this work in the background that actually protects people,” Lyon said. “Delaware County can only benefit from a robust, strong public health department.”

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about Delaware County’s new health department.

Here’s a video of Tuesday’s press conference.