The Pandemic Census

But first, here's what happened in virus news today. Former f d A Commissioner Scott Gottley, who has advised the White House on its COVID response, said he expects the US to experience at least one more cycle of the virus in the fall and winter. He pointed to rising cases in the South and Midwest parts of the country.

Gottlieb also said he doesn't believe there will be a vaccine available for general inoculation until the end of the second or third quarter, in that contradicts President Donald Trump's earlier comment that all Americans could be vaccinated by April. In an interview on CBS on Sunday morning, Gottlieb said he hoped the virus would start to dissipate next summer. Me and mar locked down most of Yangon Province, which

is home to its largest city. It locked it down for two weeks to contain a record surge in coronavirus infections ahead of the general elections scheduled for November. Today's strict stay at home order bars more than one member of a family to venture out for shopping and curbs

travel to other cities except for essential work. Finally, an eighteen billion dollar initiative to deploy a COVID nineteen vaccine around the world is moving into the next phase, with a hundred and fifty six countries and regions joining the program. The initial goal of the campaign, called KOVACS, is to have two billion vaccine doses available by the end of one While China wasn't among the countries having made a commitment in a statement released Monday, more agreements will be

announced later. The program is led by the World Health Organization GAVY, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovasions. The US has said it won't participate in the program, and now, for today's main story, US census is about to draw to a close. Bureau field

workers have until September to avoid an undercount. They have been going door to door to confirm the number of people living in cities across the country, but pandemic scarred residents, fraudsters posing as census workers, and a lack of PPE are standing in their way. Bloomberg's Jordan's gas Poure has more. The Trump administration will in the US Census count a month earlier than expected. Last week, the US Census Bureau announced that only nine three percent of households across the

country have been counted so far. That's a problem. Anything less than a final response rate of may lead to a flawed head count. As of Wednesday, the bureaus as it's reached households in only two states, Idaho and West Virginia.

After first extending the deadline because of the coronavirus pandemic, the US Census Bureau will now stop collecting data on septemb The Bureau says it moved up the date to meet its December thirty first deadline to provide figures to Congress, But the Associate Director of the Census, Albert E. Fontineau, Jr. Said in a July webinar that it'll be impossible to

meet the December thirty one deadline. Since this, experts say this decision could lead to undercounts among renters, low income people, immigrants, communities of color, and rural areas, and may cost them billions of federal tax dollars for public services over the next decade. The coronavirus pandemic is comple cating sensus outreach efforts throughout the country, but in Arizona, where there's large rural and tribal populations, getting an accurate count has never

been easy. Alec Stebon Thompson with Arizona Governor Doug Doocey's office told me in July that the coronavirus has complicated since its outreach efforts in the state where many of its rural communities don't have reliable electricity and internet access. We had all of these grand ideas as part of this original plan for you know, different events that we were going to do and community based tactics, but obviously, in the world that we're living in currently, those are

not options for census workers here. Physically ensuring every household gets a census form sometimes means traveling long distances and to locations that may not even appear on a map. In Census, an estimated four point eight eight percent of

Native Americans living on reservations weren't counted. Someone like me who lived, you know, in downtown Phoenix with a physical address, I got a letter asking me to respond, followed by a few other mailings, and then eventually a paper form, whereas in you know, Navajo Navajo Nation, they don't have physical addresses, so those forms are physically carried to someone's house and left at the door. So the next big operation that would take place is non response follow up.

That's when a census employee will show up to a household. The Census Bureau strives to hire census takers to work in their own communities, because, after all, they know the area best. Door knockers began going to homes on July six in various parts of the country. Last month, five hundred thousand census takers nationwide were in the field for the first time, knocking on the doors of households who

haven't responded to the Census. Bureau. Officials acknowledged that they're losing door knockers because they're afraid of contracting the coronavirus. I contacted a number of Sensus store knockers to talk to them about their experiences. Three got back with me, but declined an interview because they were afraid of losing their job. Last month, the CDC said in a joint statement with the Census Bureau that taking part in an in person interview with the bureau employee quote should present

a low risk of transmission of COVID nineteen. The Census Bureau says door knockers received online training and will attempt to conduct socially distanced interviews with every household that hasn't responded to the Census. The lasso wear masks, sometimes gloves, and have hand sanitizer. After knocking, Census employees will communicate

with residents outside and at least six ft apart. The bureau says it's protocols have been reviewed by both the Department of Health and Human Services and the c d C. The Census Bureau says it will need to visit about fifty six million homes to collect responses in person after COVID nineteen complicated SINCEUS efforts, the Bureau has been scrambling to find employees. Last month, the Commerce Department Inspector General said the Census still needs to employ eighty thousand field workers.

Census officials anticipated needing three hundred thousand field workers by the end of last month, but at that time had only trained and deployed two. Carmen Taylor Jones, Census director at the Los Angeles based Black Women for Wellness advocacy group, says the Bureau has rushed putting field workers on the ground. They're scrambling, and I hope that the scramble does not lend itself to any compromising of the operation, because this thing is so important to our future on so many

different levels that you cannot compromise in. Carmen trained field workers as the former Southern California Area regional manager for the US Census Bureau. I told people all the time, bring your a game. This is a short project. I's not gonna last forever. Bring the best that you have. And if you do that, and you open up your soul to this work, you will walk out of here

a much better person. Carmen is quick to point out that this decade since this has been fraught with many issues, everything from a last minute timeline cut two, partisan politics over a citizenship question and then the Cope nineteen pandemic. She recognizes that it hasn't been easy for the bureaus field workers who now face the final month to confirm the number of people living in their city. I have so much respect for this operation simply because it is

one something that is for everybody, you know. I tell people, only people we don't count are those babies that are still inside of their mother's wounds. Other than that, if you're on life support, we count. You. Don't let anybody rob you of the opportunity to document your existence. To throw another wrench into census plans, the Bureau and now that in person counting now ended as early as last Friday in some parts of the country. This is nearly

two weeks before the count officially ends nationwide. The Bureau said in a statement that the last minute change is quote based on the rates of completion, self response rates, and the number of hours are available workforce can work. That was Jordan Gaspoure, and that's it for our show today. For coverage of the outbreak from one D and twenty bureaus around the world, visit Bloomberg dot com slash coronavirus and if you like the show. Please leave us a

review and a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help more listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis Daily Edition is produced by Tophah foreheads Jordan Gaspore, Magnus Hendrickson, and me Laura Carlson. Today's main story was reported by Jordan Gospore. Original music by Leo Sidrin. Our editors are Francesco Levi and Rick Shine. Francesca Levi is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Thanks for listening.