The Newcastle Knights have shut down early for their 13-day Christmas break as a result of Newcastle's worsening COVID situation.
The Knights were due to travel to Brisbane on Friday for an army camp before returning to Newcastle on Monday and going on their break.
But the camp was scrapped on Wednesday after development contract player Chris Vea'ila tested positive to COVID.
A Knights staff member, working out of the club's New Lambton office, has now also tested positive to the virus, forcing the rest of the office to isolate and undergo testing.
While no further players have tested positive, only limited squad numbers have been training over the past 48 hours so club officials and coach Adam O'Brien decided as a precaution to shut down operations early before returning in the New Year.
"This was not an easy decision or one we made without a huge amount of discussion, but it was the right call to make," footy general manager Buderus said.
"With the current situation here in Newcastle, it was simply far too risky to continue training and we felt this was the appropriate action to take.
"We made the hard call to remove our football operations from our training base and take an early Christmas shut down.
"Our players will be asked to apply good common sense to both their own health and individual training requirements during this period."
The Knights will continue to adhere to all health orders and work with all relevant bodies to determine the most appropriate time to return to training after the Christmas break.
