COLORADO, USA — Colorado residents are urged to fill out the census online, over the phone or by mail after the designated field operations day — which was set for April 1 — was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The two-week suspension is designed to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus between the public, Census Bureau employees and those in the hiring process for temporary census taker positions.
The 2020 Census went into full effect for the majority of the country last Thursday, but the continuous spread of COVID-19 has suspended field operations until April 1, the designated Census Day in which every resident in the U.S. is counted.
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Even amidst the standstill, the Bureau will continue to move forward in otherwise-traditional census operations.
As of now, census workers are planning to visit households in-person during late May, specifically those belonging to individuals who haven’t responded by that time. But, these plans are subject to change depending on the further development of the virus.
The bureau is attempting to slow the spread of the virus by contacting administrators from multiple departments across the state, urging them to choose options that would minimize person-to-person contact with individuals, ones that would comply with the social distancing policies regarding COVID-19.
The bureau is accommodating the impact of the virus by encouraging administrators to count their residents through eResponses or by providing paper listings.
As for the students that attend the colleges and universities that have been temporarily closed due to COVID-19?
They’ll still be counted, even if the students are away from campus housing on Census Day, April 1.
The same goes for residents in nursing homes, college dorms, prisons, homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
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