GUAYAQUIL, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's professional football clubs returned to training on Wednesday after a coronavirus hiatus that lasted almost three months.

15 of the 16 teams in the first division - known as the LigaPro - were given permission by the government's emergency operations committee to resume outdoor activities after agreeing to strict sanitary protocols.

The exception was Delfin SC, who are still awaiting results of tests on their players.

"These first few days will allow the players to regain their physical fitness and then we'll start working with the ball in small spaces," said LDU Quito's Uruguayan head coach, Pablo Repetto.

Barcelona de Guayaquil boss Fabian Bustos said his players were eager to return to the training ground after 12 weeks of home confinement.

"I noticed the boys were very enthusiastic about returning to the fold," the Argentinian manager said. "They've been waiting for this moment for a long time and I was impressed with how they applied themselves in the first session."

LigaPro officials will meet with club representatives on Monday to discuss a date for the resumption of competition, tentatively slated for July 17.

All organized sport was suspended in the Andean nation on March 15, four days after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

Ecuador has over 44,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which more than 3,700 have been fatal.