Census forms to be hand delivered to Western Pa. households next week

People across Western Pennsylvania could receive a census packet on their doorsteps starting next week as the bureau resumes some operations halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On May 13, questionnaire packets will be left at households that typically do not receive mail at their physical address, said Susan Licate, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Regional Census Center. In all, about 47,600 households across the region will receive a packet, along with 5.1 million people across the country.

“This operation is crucial to ensure a complete and accurate count of all communities, which helps guide hundreds of billions of dollars in public and private sector spending per year,” Licate said in a statement.

Field operations — or workers who go door-to-door, ensuring an accurate count — were suspended over a month ago to help keep workers and community members safe as the virus spread. Stay-at-home orders and social distancing regulations also hindered operations.

Now, parts of north and southwestern Pennsylvania are slated to ease some restrictions from those orders. Twenty-four counties in the northwestern region opened Friday, and Gov. Tom Wolf said 13 more counties, including Allegheny and Westmoreland, would reopen next week.

As operations restart, field staff delivering the packets will practice social distancing while wearing government-provided personal protective equipment and will follow federal health and safety guidelines.

Several census offices are also starting to reopen including those in Allentown, Cranberry, Harrisburg, Norristown, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading and State College. They will resume operations May 13. More offices across the country will begin to reopen when it is deemed safe to do so.