back during covid
Few people mean this literally. We all know covid is still around and will be quite possibly forever. What it means, depending on context is "during covid lockdowns" or "during covid restrictions" or really just 2020.
It's not a pandemic anymore, it's endemic now. Get both your shots every year now. Covid isn't the new flu, it's flu's new buddy.
It's says he recently started sleeping at the park, not recently became homeless. It could have happened to him at any point in his life, based on this story.
My friend's dad fell off a ladder and nearly broke his back when we was in his close to 60, if not older. He luckily had family and was about to retire anyway, but imagine if he were a single construction worker in his 60s with no 401k.