Australian Border Force clearance finally arrived on Saturday morning for the squad, who are due to arrive in the NSW country town of Tamworth on Sunday afternoon and not likely to return until the season is complete in October.

Warriors chief executive George hopes families can follow in coming months and that they can shift from Tamworth, after two weeks of training in strict isolation, to the Central Coast and ideally play “home games” in Gosford.

An in-house wellbeing officer will remain with the team during the season, while the club will ensure their families have support around the clock.

The club also has the option to apply for a replacement if any player needs to return home prematurely.

Belgium will close its borders to planes and trains coming from the United Kingdom to prevent importing a new strain of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Alexander de Croo told the VRT broadcaster on Sunday.

The ban on incoming travel from Britain covers Eurostar services via the Channel Tunnel and will take effect for at least 24 hours from midnight on Sunday, VRT said.

Belgium was also in touch with France over road transit passengers from Britain, VRT said, a day after the neighbouring Netherlands also banned flights carrying passengers from Britain over coronavirus.

Britain on Saturday tightened its COVID-19 restrictions, saying a new strain of the virus was responsible for spiralling infection numbers.