A Bergen County horse trainer with several underlying medical conditions was New Jersey's first coronavirus death, state officials said Tuesday.

The 69-year-old man was identified as Little Ferry resident John Brennan, a horse trainer and mainstay in the paddock of Yonkers Raceway, according to several horse racing publications.

He was hospitalized at Hackensack University Medical Center last Friday, and had conditions that included emphysema, diabetes and hypertension, said state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. He suffered a heart attack Monday night and was revived, but died Tuesday morning after a second heart attack, Persichilli said. Brennan had not recently traveled outside the United States, she said.

The racetrack was closed Tuesday, according to Thoroughbred Daily News and Harness Racing Update, which identified Brennan as the New Jersey coronavirus victim.

Officials also announced three other presumed cases of coronavirus Tuesday — a Teaneck man and two Burlington County residents — bringing the state total to 15 just a day after Gov. Phil Murphy declared a public health emergency to set efforts in motion to keep the virus from spreading.

"Our prayers are with the family during this difficult time," Murphy said in a joint statement with Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver. "We remain vigilant to doing all we can — across all levels of government — to protect the people of New Jersey.”

Brennan grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York, and would often spend time with his father at the race track as a youngster.

In a 2003 interview with The Record and NorthJersey.com, Brennan said he “practically lived” at Saratoga’s race track as a young man. He eventually followed his father into the steamfitter business. But it was short-lived.

His love for horses drew him back.

He became a trainer and when he had saved enough money, he began buying horses.

It wasn’t until 2003 that he had a breakthrough. His horse, Sugar Trader, won the Yonkers Trot and was runner-up at the Hambletonian. It was a rags-to-riches story for both Brennan and his horse. Brennan bid $19,000 for Sugar Trader, which had no famous pedigree — unlike the rest of the horses in the field that cost three to four times the amount.

Little Ferry Mayor Mauro Raguseo, in a Facebook post, said the Little Ferry resident was not married, did not have children, and "did not frequent local houses of worship." Family members have been cooperating with the investigation into his contacts, Raguseo said.

New coronavirus cases

While the number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey is expected to increase, Persichilli said she did not expect the virus to begin spreading uncontrollably.

"I don't expect community spread to occur," she said. "I hope with containment and education, it doesn't," she said, outlining an intensive effort underway to identify and isolate all close contacts of those infected.

Two of the new cases were in Bergen County, including Brennan. The other new case was a 44-year-old Teaneck man hospitalized at Holy Name Medical Center who also tested positive Tuesday, said Teaneck township manager Dean Kazinci.

County Executive James Tedesco announced a state of emergency Tuesday, with seven presumed coronavirus cases identified. Additional steps to prevent the virus' spread include prohibiting outside visitors to county-operated long-term care facilities in Rockleigh and Paramus and closing the county-run schools.

Several of Bergen County's coronavirus patients have links to a cluster of cases in Westchester County, New York, the biggest cluster of cases in the nation, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo has ordered the National Guard to help with cleaning in a containment zone being created in an area of New Rochelle that has seen the most cases. The goal is to prevent further spread of the disease.

Also Tuesday, New Jersey's two senators, Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the White House response to coronavirus, raising alarm at reports of poor passenger screening at U.S. airports.

The letter states in part that "there have been several troubling reports of individuals who recently traveled from Italy and South Korea to airports across the United States, including Newark Liberty International Airport, and were not screened at any point, either leaving their country of origin, or entering the United States.

"Travelers report not being screened or even asked whether they had traveled to areas with high rates of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days," the letter says.

More testing

New Jersey was still in the process of testing 31 more people for the virus Tuesday, and has the capacity to test "a couple hundred more," Persichilli said.

The shortage of testing kits provided by the federal government "has not affected our ability to test" those who need it, Persichilli said. "If it becomes a significant surge, we certainly might have a problem." The state is following guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control to determine who will be tested.

Two commercial laboratories — LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics — began offering tests for the new coronavirus this week. Those tests are performed upon the recommendation of a doctor, and the specimens must be collected at a doctor's office or hospital by personnel wearing full protective gear. Currently, no walk-in or on-demand testing is available to the public in New Jersey.

With commercial labs starting to make tests available, Murphy also announced Tuesday that people in state-sponsored health plans would face no out-of-pocket costs for testing or services related to testing. His directive applies to people in the State Health Benefits and School Employee Health Benefits Plans, Affordable Care Act policies, small and large group plans that are regulated by the state, and the uninsured population.

Murphy encouraged employers whose plans don’t come under state regulation “to support consumer access to medically necessary COVID-19 screening, testing and testing-related services, including waiving cost sharing.” COVID-19 is the name for the illness caused by coronavirus.

And the Murphy administration said that due to the multi-state efforts to combat coronavirus, it was postponing an inaugural “States for Gun Safety” summit scheduled for later this month in Newark that would have included other governors and delegations from other states.

In addition Tuesday, New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner put out an advisory saying state courts are operating as usual, at least for now. However, anyone who is symptomatic or thinks they have been exposed to the virus should call the court and request an adjournment. Also, preparations are underway to conduct telephonic proceedings should that become necessary.

Tuesday's New Jersey tally followed five new cases confirmed on Monday by state health officials, including a Teaneck resident, a Clifton 18-year-old, a Berkeley Heights resident in Union County and two people in Monmouth County.

Other prior cases include two Englewood residents, a Fort Lee man, another Teaneck resident, a West New York resident in Hudson County, and a Cherry Hill resident in Camden County. The West New York man has left the hospital, and is in self-quarantine at home, Hackensack University Medical Center said.

Some local schools have started to close to prepare for online learning if needed. Some universities have extended their spring breaks and are also moving to online instruction.

On Tuesday, Seton Hall University in South Orange decided to suspend all in-person classes beginning on Wednesday, and classes will be online through at least March 22.

And Rutgers University will cancel classes starting Thursday, through the end of spring break on March 22. Beginning on March 23, all course instruction will be delivered remotely.

At Montclair State University, spring break will be extended through March 22. Beginning on March 23, the majority of instruction will take place online for the rest of the semester.

New Jersey became the ninth state to declare an emergency to deal with coronavirus.

Murphy declared a state of emergency and a public health emergency on Monday to give the state more flexibility to waive or suspend rules "which would be detrimental to the public welfare during this emergency," according to the order. It also helps increase access to resources such as health care and allows towns and counties to be reimbursed by the federal government for certain related costs.

It's the first time that a governor has declared a public health emergency under current state law, according to Murphy's communications director, Mahen Gunaratna. That order lasts for 30 days and would have to be extended after that, if needed, he said.

A task force created by Murphy met Tuesday to discuss "mitigation plans" to try containing the virus, such as school closures and self-quarantining if officials deem it warranted. The state corrections commissioner, responsible for state prisons, is considering ending contact visits with inmates, Oliver said.

As the virus spread to 34 states Monday, an official for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that "many people in the United States will at some point in time — either this year or next — be exposed to this virus, and there's a good chance that most will become sick."

She urged the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions to stock up on the food and medicine they need and prepare to hunker down and avoid going out.

Reporters Megan Burrow, Scott Fallon and Richard Cowen contributed to this story.