UPDATE: NJ reported its first coronavirus death. Get the latest news here

Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in New Jersey as the number of cases of coronavirus in the state grew to 11 on Monday, with patients diagnosed in five counties.

“The state of New Jersey is committed to deploying every available resource, across all levels of government, to help respond to the spread of COVID-19 and keep our residents informed,” Murphy said, referring to the disease caused by the virus.

With the declaration, the state superintendent of police and the commissioner of health will oversee the state's emergency response. The decree also authorizes the governor to take strong action to prohibit price gouging. And it makes it easier for the state to procure supplies needed by front-line medical workers by waiving normal bidding procedures.

The governor said the action was necessary "to ensure that local health agencies on the front lines of the state’s response are equipped with the resources needed to further prepare our health care system for a broader spread of COVID-19.”

Murphy's action followed a similar declaration Sunday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, where 142 people have been diagnosed, more than in any other state. New Jersey became the ninth state with an emergency declared.

Also on Monday, the Port Authority's executive director became the first public official in the bi-state area to test positive for COVID-19.

As the virus spread to 34 states, 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.

"The highest risk of illness and death is in people over 80," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, in a conference call with reporters.

The number of additional cases in New Jersey "is concerning but not unexpected," said Judith Persichilli, the state health commissioner, in an afternoon briefing. "It follows the trend we're seeing in the rest of the country and around the world."

More than 500 people have now been diagnosed in the United States, with 19 deaths, the CDC said Monday. Globally, there have been more than 100,000 cases and 3,000 deaths.

With commercial labs starting to make tests available, Murphy announced Tuesday that people in state-sponsored insurance plans would not have to pay anything out-of-pocket for testing or services related to testing. His announcement 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.

He 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.”

In New Jersey, the Health Department said the new cases include:

An 18-year-old woman from Clifton, who is hospitalized. She may have been in contact with a patient from New York who has the illness. The woman is "not affiliated with the Clifton Public Schools," according to the school district and the city's Health Department.

A 30-year-old Teaneck man, who is hospitalized at Holy Name Medical Center. It is not known where he was exposed.

A 48-year-old man from Berkeley Heights in Union County, who is at Overlook Medical Center in Summit.

A 27-year-old man in Little Silver, who is not hospitalized. He is among 170 people who attended a conference in Boston and have tested positive.

An 83-year-old woman from Hazlet, who is being treated at Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel.

In addition, 24 people are in the pipeline to be tested through the state public health laboratory, and an unknown number of others may be getting tested through private labs, state health officials said.

"We do expect more cases. I don’t want to sugarcoat that at all,” Persichilli said.

So far New Jersey does not have sustained transmission in the community, and local health officers are working to contain the virus's spread by identifying all the contacts of those diagnosed and urging them to quarantine themselves and monitor for symptoms.

Bergen County cases

With five cases in Bergen County — at least two of them connected to the Westchester County outbreak — the county executive said he had instructed county health officials to implement plans to mitigate the outbreak.

"We must take action now before the outbreak becomes a health crisis," said County Executive Jim Tedesco.

Steps could include workplace accommodations, such as telecommuting, to avoid face-to-face contact; school closures or dismissals; day care closures; and screening or restricting visitors to long-term care facilities.

Both the Bergen and Passaic sheriff's departments have already suspended face-to-face visits with people being held in the county jails.

"We will get through this," Tedesco said. "New Jersey people are strong, resilient and tough."

Tedesco said officials are out making spot checks to guard against price gouging for sanitary and other products.

"The amount of people hoarding bottled water is unbelievable," he said, noting that Suez, the utility that provides water to Bergen County, purifies drinking water with a process that would remove any coronavirus.

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Also Monday, Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, became the first public official in the region to test positive for coronavirus. The Port Authority oversees the region's major airports, bridges and tunnels.

The announcement came Monday afternoon from Cuomo, who said New York now has the most coronavirus cases in the nation at 142, most of them in Westchester County.

"Rick Cotton has tested positive for the coronavirus, so he is going to be in quarantine; he's going to be working from home," Cuomo said. "He's been at the airports, obviously, when many people were coming back with the virus."

In addition, Princeton University announced Monday that all classes will go online after spring break as a response to the coronavirus, the first college in the state to do so, officials said.

Students were also encouraged to stay home after spring break, university President Christopher Eisgruber said in a letter to students and staff.

New Jersey currently doesn't have widespread community transmission of the disease, which would create the need to cancel mass gatherings and close schools, officials have said.

"You could have strong mitigation in the north and less in the south," said Persichilli, referring to the steps outlined by Tedesco.

Earlier NJ coronavirus cases

The new New Jersey cases identified Monday come on the heels of two hospital patients who had been diagnosed with coronavirus infection Sunday. One is a 70-year-old Teaneck health care worker who was admitted to St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson on Friday and is in stable condition, according to Liz Asani, a hospital spokeswoman.

The other is a 32-year-old West New York man hospitalized at Hackensack University Medical Center.

The 32-year-old physician's assistant, who was the first case diagnosed in New Jersey, said his condition was getting worse, and that he had been approved to receive treatment with an experimental anti-viral drug. He has been in isolation at Hackensack University Medical Center since last Tuesday.

James Cai told CBS2 News that he thought he picked up the virus while attending a medical conference in New York, and doesn't smoke or have medical conditions that would place him at high risk for a serious form of the disease. Speaking from his hospital bed, with oxygen flowing through a tube into his nose, he warned others to take the threat of the virus seriously.

One of the Englewood cases, a 55-year-old man, may have exposed others at the national Conservative Political Action Committee conference, which was attended by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in February. The American Conservative Union, host of the Maryland event, on Saturday notified participants about the man's attendance, noting that he did not attend any sessions with Trump or Pence.

Two New Jersey patients received care when they showed symptoms but had not yet been diagnosed at the same urgent care center — CityMD Urgent Care on Route 4 in Paramus. Officials said they were unable to provide the dates on which the patients — who are not connected — visited the clinic.

A Cherry Hill man also diagnosed with the disease visited Cooper University Urgent Care on Route 70 in Cherry Hill.

The coronavirus case count in the United States has reached more than 500 in 34 states and Washington, D.C., the CDC reported Monday. So far there have been 19 deaths — 18 in Washington State and one in California. More than half of the deaths were among residents of a nursing home near Seattle.

What you need to know about coronavirus

There is currently neither a vaccine nor an approved treatment for the new, or novel, coronavirus.

While younger people may experience the illness as a bad cold with a fever, the concern is that older people and those who have additional medical conditions will develop a more severe form of COVID-19.

As the disease spreads widely in the population, that could lead to a high number of patients requiring hospitalization for pneumonia or acute lung problems that require the use of a ventilator to breathe, as well as death.

The CDC issued new guidelines Sunday for people at high risk. Those guidelines recommend that those over 60 or with underlying medical conditions do the following:

Make sure you have supplies on hand, such as routine medications for blood pressure and diabetes, and over-the-counter medications and supplies to treat fevers and other symptoms.

Have enough supplies and groceries to stay home for a period of time.

Take routine precautions, including avoiding touching surfaces that are touched by the general public.

Avoid crowds, especially in poorly ventilated areas.

Defer all cruise-ship travel worldwide. Avoid non-essential travel, especially long plane trips.

Pay attention to the coronavirus situation in your community, and follow guidance of local health authorities.

"If you end up helping to care for a family member at greater risk, familiarize yourself with your loved one’s medications and help them get food and other necessities to avoid trips to the store," said the CDC's Messonnier. "If they get sick, and you get sick, identify backups who can take of them if you can’t.

"Everyone has a role to play," she said.

Staff Writer Dustin Racioppi contributed to this article.