“It was like, this is unbelievable, this is not really happening,” Ms. Battle said. “I’m going to wake up and I’m going to have to catch a flight.”

April was meant to be one of her busiest months, as schools rush to get students ready for standardized testing season. Instead, she is home with her husband and teenage son, trying to figure out how to cut expenses. They have gotten their bank to defer this month’s mortgage payment. Ms. Battle’s husband, a substance abuse counselor, still has a job, but they aren’t sure how long that will last.

“When you have to think about paying for groceries or for therapy, which one are you going to do?” Ms. Battle said.

Economists have warned that those sorts of choices — groceries or therapy? — could turn an acute economic crisis into a long recession. If laid-off workers can’t pay their bills, there could be a cascade of further layoffs and business failures. The greater the damage, the less chance of a quick economic rebound once the health crisis eases.

“The deeper the layoffs get, the longer the recovery will take,” said Julia Pollak, a labor economist for ZipRecruiter.

The congressional legislation passed last week was meant, in part, to prevent that cascade. The government will provide businesses with low-interest loans — which in some cases could turn into grants — to help them avoid layoffs and keep the lights on. And the law temporarily expanded the unemployment insurance system to cover more workers and offer them more generous benefits.