Tenants and their supporters from across Los Angeles gather at city hall on April 30 to call on Mayor Eric Garcetti, the LA City Council, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to cancel rent and mortgage payments during the Covid-19 crisis. | Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

“The United States is facing an eviction crisis of biblical proportions.”

America’s health crisis began just as Joaquín H. was recovering from his own.

He got sick, suddenly, at the end of January. He spent most of February in and out of the hospital, major surgery along the way. As he recuperated in bed, scrolling the internet, he watched the coronavirus emergency grow larger, and closer to his home in Eugene, Oregon.

“As Covid hit,” the 51-year-old, who asked to be identified only by his first name and last initial for privacy reasons, told