How the U.S. will conduct census in time of pandemic

April 1 is generally lauded as Census Day but with a global pandemic running rampant nationwide, the U.S. Census Bureau has scaled down field operations for the next two weeks.

Perhaps it’s no better time as the census goes live, for the first time in its history, with its online form at 2020census.gov to make the decennial county of people easier with stay-at-home orders in place.

So far, of the 37.5 percent of the self-reporting Pennsylvanians who have filled out their census forms, 33.3 percent have completed it online. In 2010, 70.2 percent of Pennsylvanians selfreported.

Across the United States, 36.2 percent of Americans have already responded to the census questionnaire that began waves of mailing out between March 12-20.

“We’re committed to working together to make sure all Pennsylvanians are counted in the census,” Pennsylvania Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin said. “Now, more than ever, our representation and billions of dollars of funding for critical resources depend on an accurate count of all Pennsylvanians, no matter who they are or where they live.”

It is estimated each individual counted equates to $2,000 of funding every year for 10 years. Besides determining allocation of funding, the numbers gathered in the census also help shape the U.S. congressional district maps and impact community and business planning for years to come.

The first census was directed by Thomas Jefferson in 1790. Then, through an act of law, the U.S. Constitution dictated that the count must be taken every 10 years after that.

Unique to this year is the coronavirus crisis.

Announced Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau said it is suspending 2020 census field operations for two more weeks through April 15.

“The census bureau is taking this step to help protect the health and safety of the American public, census bureau employees, and everyone who will go through the hiring process for temporary census taker positions,” federal officials said. “The census bureau continues to evaluate all 2020 Census field operations, and will communicate any further updates as soon as possible.”

The questionnaire itself is confidential and cannot be used for law enforcement purposes or to determine eligibility for government benefits or immigrant enforcement. It asks for the names of those living in a household, their address, gender, race and ethnicity, age and when they rent or own their home.