Computer return at King's Lynn and West Norfolk Council delayed over Covid risk

A council has refused to reintroduce computers for public use because they could pose a Covid infection risk.

Independent councillor Alexandra Kemp had proposed that King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council reintroduce "just one or two" of the previous six at its King's Court offices.

She warned west Norfolk was at a high risk of "digital exclusion".

Council leader, Stuart Dark, said they would return when Covid rates had gone down.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said that when responding to Ms Kemp's motion at a council meeting on Thursday, Conservative Mr Dark, said: "It [is] safety concerns, not only for staff, but mainly for users, around having computers in a public space that other people are using before you.

"The decision was taken to remove them until the infection rates reduced and it was safe to [reintroduce them].

"Everybody will be aware, from the updates that they've had from the QEH [Queen Elizabeth Hospital], our infection rates aren't safe for us to do that at the moment."

He added that some 80 to 100 people every week had come into King's Court reception in King's Lynn to access council services since it reopened last May and only one had asked to use a computer.

Ms Kemp said it was easy to wipe down a computer and "to put this in the "too difficult" box is just wrong" but her motion was defeated.

The council's Labour group leader, Charles Joyce, said it was an example of Covid being "blamed for everything".

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