BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Census Bureau will begin a door-to-door headcount on Thursday of residents in Massachusetts amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We will go and begin knocking on doors of every address that has yet to respond to the 2020 Census. And it’s not too late for households to self-respond,” Jeff Behler, the Northeast Regional Director at the Census Bureau, said.
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin will kickoff the headcount in Springfield Thursday morning.
"There is a real concern that Western Mass will be shortchanged by the federal government if everyone isn't counted," Galvin said in a statement. "We want to make sure the people of Springfield and all of Western Massachusetts get the federal dollars that are due to them for things like hospitals, schools, and transportation, which is needed now more than ever."
Door-to-door headcounts will also begin in Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, Hampden, Worcester, Norfolk, and Middlesex Counties. And the in-person count will start elsewhere in Massachusetts in mid-August.
The census workers will not ask for any sensitive information. "We do not ask for social security numbers, we don't ask for bank account information or money, and we do not ask citizenship status," Behler said.
Census workers that do come to doors will be wearing official U.S. Census Bureau identification. They will also be wearing masks to protect residents during the coronavirus pandemic.
Residents can also respond to the census online at www.my2020census.gov or over the phone at 1-844-330-2020.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jim MacKay (@JimMacKayOnAir) reports
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