Chris Myers applied for a forgivable loan from the federal government. He's running his business as if the additional lifeline may not be on its way.

"I'm just cobbling enough work together to try covering my studio rent and a little bit of incidentals," said the Baltimore-based photographer. Hospitals and colleges are his usual clients, and he's expanded into taking more freelance photojournalism work with local magazines.

"Hopefully, I don't beat up my bank account too much – 90% to 95% of business is gone right now, so I'm just keeping the lights on," Myers said.

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Myers is among the millions of entrepreneurs who applied for a slice of the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program or PPP. It's been five days since he's applied, and he's still not sure whether he'll receive funding.

The first-come, first-served forgivable loan program dried up on Thursday, April 16 with many small-business owners still uncertain about where they stand.

Some 1.6 million loans were extended as of Thursday, according to Treasury. Three out of 4 loans were for $150,000 and less.

"People are waiting for money," said Michael Maksymiw, partner at Marcum in West Hartford, Connecticut. "They're trying to get this money and pay employees so they can buy groceries and function."