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New Jersey’s first coronavirus patient says he has been released from the hospital but faces a tough road to recovery since the ordeal has left him on an oxygen machine.

James Cai, a 32-year-old physician assistant, said he was finally discharged Saturday after testing negative twice for the virus that has ravaged his lungs.

“I have my fingers crossed that my lungs will come back,” Cai told The Post on Sunday in a text message, saying he was too weak to talk on the phone.

With no underlying health issues, the Fort Lee dad was in good shape before he was hospitalized March 2 with the virus at Hackensack University Medical Center.

But during his 19-day stint, the dangerous bug ravaged his lungs and he was placed on oxygen.

Cai said was released to his home with a smaller oxygen machine — “like a purse I carry all the time” — and another, larger one for when he sleeps.

“I am only 32 and I cannot rely on oxygen forever,” he said.

Cai said that there’s a chance that lung fibrosis could cause problems for him in the future. His doctors are unable to tell him whether his damaged lungs will ever recover.

“Nobody knows but at least I survived,” he told The Post.

Despite being cleared for the virus, he’s isolating at home while his wife and 20-month-old daughter stay with other relatives for another 14 days as a precaution.

“The longest time for the virus to stay in the body is around 30 days, according to Chinese experts,” he said. “Everybody is safe this way.”

He said that he also cleans all packages with 70% alcohol and then waits 10 minutes to open them.

“My friends and other family members will prepare food and hang them on my doorknob,” he said. “I will wear gloves and mask to get it after nobody is outside.”

Cai was among the 1,327 cases of COVID-19 in the state where the death toll has climbed to 16.