Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross downplayed concerns that the 2020 Census would be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic since census monitors are usually sent door-to-door to collect the most accurate data possible. Ross said his department is ready to be flexible on how it goes about collecting the new demographics.

"We'll just have to play it by ear," Ross told the Senate appropriations subcommittee. While he didn’t provide any details on contingency planning, he noted that the Commerce Department has "done as much as we can to be ready for whatever contingency comes up."

Ross said a group of people at the Census Bureau's headquarters in Suitland, Maryland, are monitoring 24/7 for coronavirus outbreaks and changes in health warnings to alert the bureau's senior managers for any potential changes to 2020 Census plans.

The US Census Bureau made a soft launch of the 2020 census website on Monday, making its form available online. On Thursday, the Census Bureau will begin mailing out notices far and wide. Concerns are mounting that the coronavirus outbreak will prevent some census monitors from going door to door to collect the most accurate data possible. 

Ross emphasized that households can respond to the 2020 Census online, which "doesn't involve any physical contact with people." Households can also respond on paper and over the phone. 

Security experts are also warning that the census is more vulnerable than usual, subjecting the process to possible foreign interferences similar to those that have impacted the elections.

“Because of coronavirus you may see even more of a reliance on the online census,” said Marcus Fowler, a former CIA cyber expert and director of Strategic Threat at Darkface, a cyber security company. 

According to Fowler, 2018 beta tests revealed that some 60% of participants opted to use the online version of the census and that number could be even higher with participants not wanting to leave their homes due to coronavirus fears.

“Any number of people might have a reason to disrupt the census,” which takes place once every 10 years and carries significant political and demographic weight, Fowler said. He added that the census website could also fail on its own merit, due to large-scale use.

He warned that scam groups may also take advantage of coronavirus fears and send out phishing scams linked to the census.