How many Johnson County residents have coronavirus? This survey could provide answers

Wouldn’t you like to know how many people around you have actually been exposed to the coronavirus? Or when the economic shutdown may end?

People in Johnson County have a chance to find out.

The county’s government has asked all residents to take an ultra-short voluntary online survey to let officials know if they have — and, just as important, if they have not — experienced any of the signature COVID-19 symptoms of fever, persistent cough or shortness of breath that can’t be explained away by allergies or asthma.

Do it quickly, though: The survey went live at 10 a.m. Tuesday and ends at 10 a.m. Friday, in order to give experts a clear real-time snapshot of the pandemic’s prevalence in the county.

The survey, at jocogov.org/coronavirussurvey, really is short and quite non-invasive. It simply asks if you’ve had the symptoms and seeks your age range, gender, zip code and race. It also asks for your email address for potential reminders about future surveys on the topic.

By mid-afternoon Wednesday, 47,000 had already completed the survey, which is a statistical blowout: The county only needed 400 for a statistically relevant sample.

Of those 47,000 survey responses some 1,600 — or about 3.5% — reported having coronavirus-like symptoms, according to Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment. He cautioned, however, that those are self-reported symptoms, not confirmed infections.

County officials want everyone who can respond to do so by 10 a.m. Friday, though, to have more than a relevant sample. They want as accurate a picture as possible.

Jackson Ward, a Johnson County epidemiologist, says it’s vitally important for people of all ages to respond — especially those who are 18-24 and 65 and over — and that they weigh in, whether they have symptoms or not.

“Because we want the best picture possible of what’s happening in the county, we need as many asymptomatic and symptomatic people as possible to complete the survey,” he said.

It’s also crucial to answer future surveys. Ward says they will be repeated each week, in roughly the same 72-hour Tuesday-Friday time period, perhaps for the duration of the outbreak, though Areola would only say they would be repeated at least two more times.

The information will reveal trends in transmission and help decision-makers determine when to ease the current stay-at-home order and lift the closing of nonessential businesses.

They are, in short, trying to take the temperature of the county.

Reminders of the surveys will be issued on the county’s website as well as its social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

“There will be another social media push when it comes out again, letting everyone know that we’ve got that 72-hour window for responses,” Ward said.

As for privacy, although the information is essentially useless for hackers, Ward said the questions were run through Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) software to provide added safeguards. “We’ve made sure to only collect the demographic information that we need, and no more.”

This is the information most of us in the Kansas City area have been pining for since the start of the outbreak. Johnson Countians have a chance to get it.

But first, they have to provide it.

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 4:42 PM.