By Tracy Delaney Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, Special to CalMatters Zenei Triunfo-Cortez is president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, execoffice@calnurses.org. As public health and health care leaders, we are overjoyed to see diminishing numbers of COVID cases. But that isn’t the only number we need to watch as we recover from the pandemic. Across California, people have lost jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. Thousands of Californians are behind on rent, facing evictions and accumulating debt that will haunt them for years or even decades. An estimated 700,000 households are behind on rent in California, and as it comes due, research by the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) shows that many will cut back on medicine and food or lose their homes entirely. It is impossible to repair damage done by the coronavirus when we are leaving so many behind.