While Hudson County works to fight back the spread of the coronavirus, its mayors don’t want residents to lose sight of another important issue that will affect them for the next 10 years: the 2020 Census.

Getting rid of COVID-19 will take weeks and maybe months, but filling out the Census questionnaire online takes just five minutes, officials have said.

“Clearly, the coronavirus has taken attention away from Census 2020," Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis said. “Some census activities that had been planned cannot take place now. However, there are still reasons for hope. The Board of Education has just emailed a census reminder to the parents of public school parents.”

The mayor said the city is also running Census instructions in five languages on municipal TV and advertising in a community newspaper. The city has also developed an address list that grew from 27,000 units in 2010 to well over 30,000 units for 2020, Davis said.

The results of the 2020 Census help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding flow into communities every year for the next decade, Census officials said.

In Hudson County, Hoboken has the top participation rate, at 31.6% through March 27, according the federal Census Bureau’s latest update. Secaucus (27.3%) is No 2 and Kearny (27.2%) is third. The state average is 30.8%. As a county, Hudson lags behind at 23.2%.

"We’ve traditionally been severely undercounted, which is why we’ve worked harder and started earlier this time around,” said Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who has been reminding residents of the Census’s importance since last April.

So far, only 21.4% of Jersey City residents have filled out their Census form.

“It’s my hope that people who are staying home take the few minutes to fill out the forms to help Jersey City get the critical funding we need for emergency response, public safety, schools, health services, and all other vital resources our residents rely on,” Fulop said, "all of which will inevitably be impacted by this crisis and the anticipated economic instability.”

The mayor has stated Jersey City population could be as high as 305,000 when the numbers come out.

Fulop has said that for every resident not counted in the census, the city will lose out on $15,000 in funding over the next 10 years — "dollars that the city could use to improve your quality of life.”

In a daily email briefing on the coronavirus in the city, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla reminded people that it’s important to take part in the Census.

“It takes 5 minutes and is easy to do while self-isolated at home,” Bhalla said. "Reaching a population threshold through the Census will be critical in helping us secure funding that Hoboken will need after the COVID-19 crisis is over.

Bhalla said anyone who mistakenly threw out the letter with their census code can still participate by visiting http://my2020census.gov and filling out the census questionnaire.

East Newark, at 20.1%, and Union City, with a 20.2% participation rate, have lagged behind the rest of the county. The response rate for all communities is available on the 2020 Census website.

Here is a list of participation rates by municipalities in Hudson County:

Hoboken 31.6%

Secaucus 27.3%

Kearny 27.2%

Bayonne 24.0%

Weehawken 23.1%

Guttenberg 22.9%

West New York 22.5%

North Bergen 22.3%

Harrison 21.8%

Jersey City 21.4%

Union City 20.2%

East Newark 20.1%