City of Beacon | COVID-19 Update | 15 April 2020

This is Mayor Lee Kyriacou, and joining me remotely is Ward Four Council Member Dan Aymar-Blair, with some local Beacon updates.

1. COVID Counts: In Dutchess County, there are close to 1,600 active COVID-19 cases, of which 91 are in Beacon. That’s 91 confirmed and active cases, not hospitalizations.

2. Outdoors: This isn’t much of a day for going out, but Spring keeps coming. Remember, Beacon City parks are open, but our playgrounds, basketball courts and skate park are closed. Keep up your social distancing; a face cover is not a replacement for proper social distancing. You are all helping to flatten the curve to help others.

3. Census: Hi, this is Dan Aymar-Blair, Councilmember for Ward 4. The 2020 census is underway.

Your response to the census helps ensure that our community is (1) adequately represented at different levels of government and (2) adequately funded for social services, more important now given the impact of COVID-19 on government revenue and rising unemployment!

Beacon’s response rate so far is 45.5%, slightly lagging behind the national average of 48.1%. In 2010, our response rate was about 74% so we have a ways to go. With field operations indefinitely suspended, and Beacon being an online-first census tract, we risk being undercounted until the next census in 2030.

It’s quick and easy. Visit 2020census.gov. The invitations that were mailed to you included a unique identifying code for your census. While helpful, please note that you do NOT need this code to take the census. You only need your address.

And it’s quick. When I took the census for our household of four, I finished in three minutes.

Please don’t forget to include all of your children and other family members who live with you. Children and seniors are most dependent on social services. Census information is, by law, confidential.

So please take the census right now. So much depends on it. Visit 2020census.gov