(Reuters) – A ban on housing evictions is set to expire on Saturday in New York, ending a critical economic support put in place at the start of the pandemic and setting the stage for a possible rush by landlords to try to oust low-income renters.

New York instituted the eviction moratorium in March 2020 when it was the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States and extended it multiple times, even as a federal eviction ban and moratoriums in other states lapsed.

State and city officials expressed concern this week about the impact of ending the moratorium, estimating that 500,000 New Yorkers needed housing aid at a time when the fast-spreading Omicron variant continued to upend social and economic life.