ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Census Bureau has another challenge as widespread door-knocking for the 2020 survey begins next week.

Previously-committed census takers are dropping out because of pandemic fears. The loss of these so-called door-knockers - formally known as enumerators - is happening just when the agency faces newly tightened deadlines to reach the hardest to count communities, including minorities and immigrants.

Door-knockers started going out last month in a test run.

Next week, the full army of 500,000 census-takers will be out in the field for the first time, knocking on the doors of households that haven’t yet responded to the census.