Census Bureau extends deadlines due to coronavirus

The U.S. Census Bureau adjusted its operations timeline due to coronavirus, according to a March 23 news release.

The census is a constitutionally mandated survey of every person living in the U.S. on April 1.

Mailers were sent to residences in mid-March. The bureau initially planned to begin nonresponse followups in early April but pushed it to early May citing concerns for its census takers who go to door-to-door collecting responses from nonrespondents.

The bureau plans to complete its count by mid-August, an extension from its original date of July 31, the release said.

The bureau is still on schedule to send the final counts to the president by the end of 2020 and deliver redistricting counts to states by April 2021, it said.

For the first time, the census can be completed online, over the phone or in the mail. Counts taken from the census impact state and local funding in areas of school lunches, small business loans, nonprofit grants, affordable housing and more.