The patient at a Monmouth County hospital with a suspected case of the coronavirus tested negative for the illness, the state Department of Health said Saturday.

The announcement means there are still no confirmed cases in New Jersey of the virus, which causes the illness COVID-19. There are also no other people in New Jersey who are awaiting testing for the illness state health officials said.

The patient had been isolated at Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel while being tested by the New Jersey Public Health Environmental Laboratories, officials said. Hackensack Meridian Health, the group that runs Bayshore, said the staff followed protocols when handling the patient.

“The care team at the hospital followed the protocols established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, ensuring the patient was isolated and treated appropriately,” Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett said in a statement. “We are very appreciative of all the efforts of the hospital team members and medical staff. We extend our best wishes to this patient for a speedy recovery.”

Five other people in New Jersey have been tested for the virus in recent weeks, but officials say all of their test results came back negative. The state health department says there are 195 asymptomatic people in New Jersey who are self-quarantined based on their travel history, but none of them are considered high risk.

On Saturday, a person in Washington state was the first person in the United States to die from coronavirus.

There were 86,000 confirmed cases of the virus as of Saturday evening, according to the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. Of those, 39,761 people recovered, while 2,941 died, the data show.

The New Jersey health department said Friday that a laboratory in West Trenton would be able to test for coronavirus without having to ship out samples to the Centers for Disease Control. Conducting tests at the state’s Public Health Environmental Laboratories would reduce the amount of time it takes to receive results from a matter of weeks to days, officials said.

Testing for the virus will not be performed on people with mild illness who are not at high risk for the disease, the state health department said.

Response preparations have been taking place in New Jersey since January. The department has shared state and Centers for Disease Control guidance with hospitals, local health officials, K-12 schools, universities and businesses.

“Most New Jersey residents are at low risk for novel coronavirus,” state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a statement. “If individuals are having symptoms, the illness is much more likely to be caused by common respiratory viruses such as flu or the common cold.”

Hackensack Meridian Health took precautions with the patient when it was initially unclear whether or not he or she had coronavirus. Protective equipment was used, certain visitors were restricted and all materials used in treatment were disposed of, said Hackensack Meridian Health Chief Physician Executive Daniel Varga.

People in the area of Bayshore Medical Center are being monitored by county officials.

Thirteen people were being monitored by the Ocean County Health Department for the virus. All but four completed the monitoring process as of Thursday, a spokesman for the county agency said. None showed any symptoms of the virus and the four remaining people are slated to finish being monitored by the end of the weekend.

The 13 people were “identified through their recent travel history,” and the “individuals were in daily communication with us and were given instructions should they demonstrate any symptoms — which fortunately never occurred,” Ocean County Health Department spokesman Brian Lippai said.

Monmouth County had been monitoring nine people, but they were “extremely low risk,” and “basically self-monitoring,” said Monmouth County Regional Health Commission spokesman David Henry.

Gov. Phil Murphy spoke Friday night with Vice President Mike Pence, who President Donald Trump put in charge of the federal response to the virus.

“The vice president praised New Jersey for taking aggressive and proactive measures to combat the public health threat and reiterated that the Trump administration stands ready to support New Jersey’s efforts in this fight,” Murphy’s office said.

A website and telephone hotline were created by the state to answer questions about the virus. The hotline phone number is 1-800-222-1222.

State Department of Health officials recommended that medical attention should be sought for those who exhibit fever symptoms, have traveled to China or been exposed to people known to have the virus within the past 14 days. People who meet those criteria should call ahead before visiting the doctor’s office or emergency room to inform them about possible exposure.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.