Creative counting

There’s a civic emergency wrapped inside the public health crisis that’s consuming New York City: The coronavirus pandemic could mean an even smaller slice of New Yorkers get counted than were a decade ago, jeopardizing the city and state’s fair share of congressional representation and hundreds of billions in federal funding.

We cannot let that happen. Households have until July 31 to self-respond to the census, which can be filled out by phone, online, or by mail. Stringent containment and mitigation measures may or may not mean the virus is on the downswing by then.

For now, the federal Census Bureau has wisely decided to suspend its own in-person field operations, including workers who count the homeless and hand-deliver census mail to rural families, until April 1.

The bad news is that if the virus lasts well into the spring, a July 31 deadline leaves cities and states little cushion to restart and complete vital outreach efforts to make sure more Americans get counted.

The self-response deadline can only be changed by an act of Congress. We agree with Mayor de Blasio, who Friday called on Congress to push it back to the end of September. Giving everyone more time is almost certain to yield a more complete count than sticking to the current timeline as chaos swirls.

Meanwhile, as worried Americans sit home, TV stations and newspapers should advise captive viewers that they can do their civic duty and respond to the census, all without leaving their homes.