New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Payton is the first NFL head coach to test positive for the virus.

It is not yet clear as to how Payton contracted the virus or if he displayed any symptoms prior to his diagnosis. No other members of the NFL community have been known to have tested positive for the virus yet, per Schefter.

Schefter said on ESPN's NFL Live Thursday that Payton began filling ill on Sunday and was tested on Monday before the results came back positive on Thursday. Payton did not exhibit a cough or fever at any point, per Schefter. The Saints head coach will be quarantined at his home in New Orleans through the weekend and is "already feeling better," per Schefter.

"Payton wants to send a message, especially all the young people, that they need to be listening to the experts and be paying attention here," said Schefter, who spoke to Payton on Thursday. "They need to stay home, practice social distancing and do the right thing."

Payton, 56, has served as the Saints' head coach since the 2006 season. Under his watch, the franchise won its first and so far only Super Bowl title thus far during the 2009 season. His 131 wins in New Orleans are the most by a head coach in Saints history, with the team coming off a 13-3 finish to the 2019 campaign.

Coronavirus symptoms include fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. While flu symptoms are similar, they're often differentiated by high fever, exhaustion, chills, dry cough and body aches. Ways to combat catching COVID-19 include self-quarantining from others, washing hands, avoiding hand to hand or physical contact with others. Coronavirus spreads between people in close contact with one another, typically within six feet, or through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Spread is still possible before people show symptoms, although that does not stand as the typical cause, according to the CDC.

Large, crowded areas should be avoided as movie theaters, work conferences and other traffic-heavy events are being shutdown across the country per state jurisdictions at the urging of the CDC. Disneyland in California closed last week amid coronavirus concerns as well as Disney World and Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Florida, whose closures went into effect over the weekend.

Much of the sports world has come to a halt within the past eight days after Utah Jazz basketball player and NBA All-Star Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus on March 11, prompting the NBA to suspend its regular season. The NHL and MLS followed the suit the next day, while the NCAA made the decision to cancel all winter and spring championships for the 2019-2020 school year. Major League Baseball delayed the start of its regular season that was set for the end of the March, while the PGA Tour canceled all of its tournaments through mid-May. NASCAR has also postponed many of its race weekends.

As for the NFL, Payton's diagnosis comes within the first week of free agency for players for the 2020 season. The 2020 NFL season is still set to be played as scheduled with football not kicking off until Septmeber, but the NFL Draft will be impacted. The NFL announced earlier in the week that all public events that were set to take place surrounding the draft in Las Vegas, Nevada had been canceled. The draft process will still be held from April 23-25, though it's undetermined how the logistics will look at the moment.