Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay arrives with head analyst Giancarlo Italiano at Wellington Airport before the team left for Australia. It is not known which Phoenix coaching staff member has tested positive for coronavirus.

A member of the Wellington Phoenix coaching staff has tested positive to the coronavirus, the club has confirmed.

"The Wellington Phoenix advise that a member of the club's Football Operations staff has tested positive for COVID-19," the club said in a statement on Saturday evening.

GETTY IMAGES Phoenix player Jaushua Sotirio wears a face mask at Wellington Airport before the team left for Sydney to complete the remainder of the now-aborted A-League season.

"The club is cooperating fully with all the relevant health authorities and is focussed on supporting staff, as well as ensuring that all Government protocols are being closely adhered to.

"As per Ministry of Health instructions, all players and staff who had direct contact with the staff member are being monitored for possible signs of infection – any person showing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 will immediately be tested.

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"The club will continue to monitor the situation closely and won't be making any further statement at this time."

It is the second positive test to rock the game in a same day, with the Newcastle Jets revealing earlier on Saturday that one of their players had also tested positive.

"Newcastle Jets can confirm that a player in its Hyundai A-League squad has returned a positive test for COVID-19," the club said in a statement.

"The player and his family are in good health, and currently in quarantine in accordance with NSW Health protocols."

The report of the positive tests will send shockwaves through the game in both Australia and New Zealand as the A-League was the last sporting competition in Australia to shut down, despite rising evidence that coronavirus cases were increasing on both sides of the Tasman.

And on Thursday, Wellington Phoenix defender Tim Payne issued a tearful apology after he charged with a drink-driving offence while the team was supposed to be in self-isolation.

Football Federation Australia have launched an investigation after Payne and Phoenix team-mate Oliver Sail were stopped by New South Wales Police while joyriding in a golf cart on Oxford Falls Road at 1:20am on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, FFA chief executive James Johnson announced the A-League was being postponed with immediate effect due to the restrictions put in place to stop the growth of Covid-19 on both sides of the Tasman.

"We have had to unfortunately postpone the A-League, which effectively postpones football at all levels in Australia," Johnson said.

"Each time we've made these decisions there's been two points that have been at the centre of our decision-making. The first point has always been the well-being of our people, our community, our players, our fans and our staff.

"The second point is our civic duty as a code to be responsible citizens and help the Australian community and support the efforts to slow down the spread of the virus.

"The rationale for this decision remains the same. We were comfortable taking the initial decision to allow the league to proceed but we always did it on the understanding that this is an evolving virus, it's moving quickly and we need to be responsive at all times and we need to react quickly."

Wellington Phoenix players were reunited with their families on Tuesday after Football Federation Australia hit pause on the A-League and allowed the team to come home before the country went into lockdown.

The Phoenix had flown to Sydney the week before in attempt to see out their remaining six games in Australia. They were six days into their 14-day quarantine when the FFA made the decision to postpone the competition.

"While we're disappointed at the postponement, the right thing to do now is to get everyone home to their loved ones during this unprecedented time of crisis," Phoenix general manager David Dome said on Tuesday.

"We didn't want to subject the players and staff to the risk of being stranded in Australia for an indefinite period of time.

"The players, staff and management were 100 per cent committed to doing the best it could this season and playing out as much of the season as was possible — their positive attitude and dedication is a tribute to them, as was as the support of the families, fans and the club's corporate partners."