The coronavirus has effectively shut down the American economy. As the federal government advises social distancing and governors across the country implement stay-at-home orders to mitigate the virus, Americans are not going out and spending money.

In this environment, many businesses are struggling to survive, forced to lay off workers. Indeed, the economy shed 701,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate rose from 3.5 percent the prior month to 4.4 percent, according to the latest jobs report. The situation is going to get worse in the coming weeks before it gets better.

President Trump signed the CARES Act into law to provide economic relief to individuals and businesses facing hardships, even economic ruin, because of this pandemic. The massive stimulus package, with a price tag of $2.2 trillion, is necessary to address an unprecedented situation.

There is always confusion when such a law is passed. People can learn about what the package does generally by reading a newspaper or watching the news. But figuring out how specifically to acquire relief for your business is trickier and may seem like a daunting task when faced with well over 1,000 pages of legislation. Where do you even begin?

This week, I cut through the confusion on my podcast “Newt’s World” with my guest, Elaine Parker, president of the Job Creators Network Foundation. We make sense of the loans that businesses can receive under the CARES Act. We also try to lay out as simply and clearly as possible for small and mid-sized business owners — and for anyone looking for information on how to apply and what is included — how they can use the new law to get the relief for which they are eligible.