New York, Jul 3 (IANS): A total of 25 players have so far tested positive for novel coronavirus in the first eight days of testing, the NBA has announced.

"In tests conducted of 344 NBA players between June 24-29, an additional nine players have tested positive for the coronavirus. 25 of 351 players have tested positive since testing began on June 23," NBA said in a release.

"In tests conducted of 884 team staff between June 23-29, 10 have tested positive for the coronavirus."

Any player, coach or team staff member who tested positive will remain in self-isolation until they satisfy public health protocols for discontinuing isolation and have been cleared by a physician, the American basketball league added.

The 2019/20 season of the NBA is scheduled to restart on July 30, after four months of break caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the competitive format for the restart, the 22 participating teams will be the eight teams in each conference with the highest current winning percentages and the six teams that are currently within six games of the eighth seed in either conference.

Teams are scheduled to travel to Orlando on July 7 for the start of formal training camp.