But Michele Acito, the director of nursing at Holy Name Medical Center, in the hardest-hit town in New Jersey’s hardest-hit county, felt like she was holding up.

Then her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law arrived, gasping for air.

The disease that has crippled New York City is now enveloping New Jersey’s densely packed cities and suburbs. The state’s governor said on Friday that New Jersey was about a week behind New York, where scenes of panicked doctors have gripped the nation.

On Sunday afternoon, state officials announced that the death toll in New Jersey had risen to 917, up from 846 the day before.

Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey, the second hardest hit state in the country behind neighboring New York, said that an additional 3,000 people tested positive for the virus.