What’s it like to be a local health inspector during a global pandemic? Sometimes, the job can feel like

Framingham Health Inspector Camille Griffin walked past the line of masked customers waiting to get into Trader Joe’s toward the employee counting those who entered and exited the grocery store.

Griffin, who wore her periwinkle health department-issued zip-up and badge, asked in a perky voice to see the manager.

She was there for her first in-person inspection of the Worcester Road store since the pandemic began. The visit was prompted by the second complaint received by the Health Department about overcrowding and lack of social distancing in the grocery store’s aisles since August.

As she walked around the store on her way to meet the manager for the unannounced inspection, Griffin clutched her clipboard.
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She noticed the yellow chains the store had installed to ensure aisle traffic flowed in a single direction. She assessed the space between customers reaching for food on shelves. She eyed the grocery store’s employees to see if they were wearing masks, and if those masks fully covered their noses and mouths. Read more….