Coronavirus could impact upcoming census

EASTON, Md. – Today is Census Day and community leaders are reminding everyone to get counted, but could COVID-19 have an impact on census participation?

We are told since many organizations have been closed as a result of the outbreak there have been fewer opportunities to help people navigate through the 2020 Census.

On top of that nonprofits like the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center in Easton tell us that meetings and door-knocking that help reach people in hard-to-count groups have been canceled.

“We were really hoping to catch people at the grocery stores, at church, at gatherings and parties, so that we can get the word out very quickly, directly to people, but of course that’s something we can’t do,” said Matthew Peters, director at the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center.

“So, we still want to encourage people to do this online or by the phone,” said Peters.

As a reminder, everyone is encouraged to participate in the census so that we do not miss out on the funding we need for our schools, hospitals and more.