Steve Bruce has suggested both Allan Saint-Maximin and skipper Jamaal Lascelles will be missing until the new year.
After an unexplained absence in recent weeks, both players were happy to let it be known they'd been suffering from the virus on the back of an outbreak at the training ground last month.
Saint-Maximin even broadcasted an Instagram Live to deny any rift with Bruce after social media rumours suggested a fallout.
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Bruce, speaking in the aftermath of the defeat to Brentford in the League Cup, said: "It's been confirmed that they don't have long-term Covid but we're going by the doctor's advice and they need rest to recover from it.
"They're not quite over the illness.
"We just need to give them some time.
"There’s been a lot of hysteria over the two of them."
Emil Krafth, Isaac Hayden and Federico Fernandez have all suffered from the problem with the Argentina international left out of the side due to fatigue last night.
Bruce was continually asked about his future after the embarrassing defeat and said: "All I can do is dust myself down and go back to work tomorrow."
