It's something like 4 post-tax paychecks for people at minimum wage, even better if they weren't full-time (more common than you might imagine even amongst people trying to move up, since low-wage employers tend to shove hours down so that you don't accumulate overtime if they have to call you in suddenly, and they all want you to work the same busy hours, making truly non-overlapping jobs challenging to come by).
I've been that poor before (never _truly_ struggling like some countries experience, but unable to comfortably afford both food and a roof), and some other units might make that check make more sense:
- 4.5 yrs worth of rice, flour, or beans (the bulk of my diet by weight and by cost)
- 5 months of rent
- 5.5 yrs of electricity (almost all of which went to cooking or refrigeration -- heat was unnecessary unless it was under 0F outside)
- a new-to-me car, enough money for the parts that I'll inevitably have to buy to fix any used car shortly after I buy it, and enough gas to drive to work for a year
When you're struggling paycheck to paycheck, that's a life-changing amount of money. I'd already escaped that life by the time covid hit, but if I hadn't then that might've been my ticket out.
As to how somebody in better circumstances might be "COVID rich"? I can only speculate, but even in the middle class people tend to have a number of "essential" payments: health insurance, mortgage/rent, newish clothes for their kids, you should probably eat a vegetable once in awhile, .... People are living "paycheck to paycheck" in those more comfortable lifestyles, and going from $0 to $2000 in discretionary income is huge. That's a year of weekly date nights at someplace better than McDonald's, a year of monthly date nights at a pretty good steakhouse or other gourmet opportunity, kayaks and road-trip money for the whole family, a very nice clavinova and a few months of lessons, ....
In either case, I suspect the key to understanding is to compare that $2k (really $2.2k-$3.3k in equivalent income depending on relevant tax details) to $0 rather than to total expenses.