Survey will gauge impact of the virus

ORLANDO, Fla. — Just how badly has the new coronavirus affected life in the U.S.?

The U.S. Census Bureau, along with five other federal agencies, will try to answer that question with a new experimental, weekly survey that officials approved this week.

The Census Bureau is hoping the three-monthlong survey provides concrete data on what has been going on at the national and state levels since the coronavirus’s spread prompted widespread stay-at-home orders and business disruptions across the U.S, beginning last month.

The weekly online questionnaire sent to households by email or text will ask respondents whether they’ve lost jobs or income, if they are being paid during a furlough, if they have enough food to eat, how much they spent in the past week, whether they’re depressed, how many hours they’re spending on teaching activities at home and if they delayed getting medical help because of the pandemic.

“There are no other known data sources that can provide comprehensive, relevant, and timely information,“the Census Bureau said in its request. “At the very least, this survey will provide non-anecdotal evidence about the effects of the pandemic on the population even if the quality is lower than would be traditionally acceptable.“

A sample questionnaire makes clear to respondents that they aren’t answering the census, which started this year but has faced delays because of the virus.

The bureau wants to track change over time, and the sample households in the survey will be interviewed for three consecutive weeks. The Census Bureau plans to reach out to 2.1 million households in the first week and 1.1 million households each week after that, with a goal of getting 108,000 responses a week.