Teaneck officials are calling for all residents to self-quarantine and only leave their residences for food and medicine as the township grapples with the most coronavirus cases in Bergen County.

Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called Teaneck “ground zero” Saturday and urged residents to self-quarantine as the number of cases surged to 18. Some 60% of Bergen County's 31 confirmed virus infections are in the township, which has a population of more than 41,000. The call for self-quarantine came after Hameeduddin consulted with the township's manager and emergency management coordinator.

“There are people that don’t understand that this is something we haven’t seen since World War II,” he said. “We don’t have enough test kits, every day more and more people will be getting sick.”

Teaneck self-quarantine:Here's everything you should know

Hameeduddin said residents should go out only if they "absolutely have to." He said a townwide quarantine is the best way to stop the virus from spreading.

"We need everyone to understand that they can infect someone or someone can infect you," he said.

Hameeduddin plans to hold a press conference Sunday with Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco to discuss the pandemic.

Brian Thompson, the New Jersey reporter for WNBC, was the first to report the news.

The number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey climbed to 69, state officials announced Saturday, saying 19 new patients had been identified as more places began testing for the virus.

New Jersey had its second death due to the coronavirus, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a tweet Saturday night. The patient was a female in her 50s who was being treated at CentraState Medical Center in Monmouth County.

The highest number of positive coronavirus cases in New Jersey remains in Bergen County. Its county executive, Jim Tedesco, on Saturday said the number is now 31.

Eighteen of those cases are in Teaneck, three each in Englewood and Fair Lawn and one each in Bergenfield, Dumont, Fort Lee, Garfield, Little Ferry, Paramus and Wood-Ridge. The patient in Little Ferry, a 69-year-old man, was the state's first fatality from coronavirus.

Ramapo College in Mahwah said Saturday that it had learned a staff member had tested positive for coronavirus.

Check back frequently for more updates on this developing story.