Tens of thousands of businesses, large and small, across the state have been ordered or advised by Gov. Phil Murphy to close, in an effort to cut person-to-person contact to stymie the spread of the coronavirus. Leading to thousands of people furloughed or out of work.

On Monday, a record 15,000 people filed unemployment applications, causing the state’s online system to overload and crash, New Jersey Labor Secretary Robert Asaro-Angelo said Tuesday.

“We are working nonstop to ensure we are on a strong footing to protect our economy and people’s jobs, so we can emerge stronger once this emergency is over,” the governor said at his daily coronavirus briefing Tuesday.

Murphy has repeatedly called on assistance from the federal government, as entire swathes of national and local economies indefinitely shut down.

He submitted an application to the federal Small Business Administration, and he supports at least some aspects of the fast-tracked Assembly bills that would provide state financial relief for businesses and expand worker protections amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“We know that the anxiety is high among business owners, particularly small businesses which are the backbone of our economy,” the governor added.

A pair of surveys this week – one from the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and another from the New Jersey Business & Industry Association – found that many employers were considering scaling back hours and reducing staff as a result of the pandemic. Bottom line, both surveys concluded, the government needs to step in.

Both Congress and the Trump administration are rushing through a $1.2 trillion bailout package, which would include relief for airlines and other industries, small business assistance, and sending checks to Americans nationwide within the next two weeks.

And U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that national unemployment could reach levels not seen since the Great Depression, or upward of 20 percent, without any government intervention, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Murphy maintained that whatever bailout package the federal government approves, much of that aid for employers would only be available if they continue paying their workers.

Employers might be able to claim aid for the amount they paid for sick and family leave, and “not paying employees now might keep them from taking advantage of these,” the governor said on Tuesday.

“I also urge banks to do what they can for their mortgage customers to make loan repayment much more flexible in the coming weeks and months,” Murphy added. “This is particularly true for workers in the hardest-hit sectors who work by the hour or those in the gig economy.”