Coronavirus

PGA star Brooks Koepka has elected to back out of the Travelers Championship tournament this week ... after his caddie tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ricky Elliott reportedly tested positive Wednesday morning at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut ... just 48 hours after testing negative for the virus.

"I’m going to pull out to protect everybody else. I think it’s the right thing to do." Koepka -- the #4-ranked golfer in the world -- said.

"I don’t want to risk anyone’s life if they have respiratory issues or underlying conditions. The only way this Tour can continue is if guys do this sort of thing and be proactive about it."

Koepka had been isolating at a rented home in Connecticut ... and may leave the area if his GF Jena Sims and personal chef test positive as well.

The New York City Marathon -- the largest marathon in the world -- has been canceled ... all because of COVID-19.

The 2020 NYC Marathon was scheduled for Nov. 1 -- but event organizers, along with the Mayor's Office, decided to call it off because it's just too risky.

Organizers are citing "coronavirus-related health and safety concerns for runners, spectators, volunteers, staff, and the many partners and communities that support the event."

Mayor Bill de Blasio says he thinks it's the best decision for everyone involved.

"While the marathon is an iconic and beloved event in our city, I applaud New York Road Runners for putting the health and safety of both spectators and runners first."

He added, "We look forward to hosting the 50th running of the marathon in November of 2021."

Runners who already registered will have the option to receive a full refund of their entry fee or a guaranteed entry in either 2021, 2022, or 2023.

Event organizers say the 2020 NYC Marathon was supposed to be the 50th running of the event "which began in 1970 and has grown to become the world’s largest marathon with 53,640 finishers in 2019."

New York is the latest city to shut down their Marathon over the Coronavirus pandemic -- following Boston, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

PLAY BALL!!!!

The MLB season is FINALLY set to begin next month ... with the owners and players agreeing to terms for a 60-game season on Tuesday.

The announcement comes after MONTHS of back and forth between both sides ... with the players demanding the owners stick to their word and pay the prorated salaries agreed upon in March.

It's nothing short of a miracle, considering MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said just last week he was "not confident" a season would happen.

The players have agreed to start training camp during the first week of July ... and games will follow with Opening Day on either July 23 or 24.

"Major League Baseball is thrilled to announce that the 2020 season is on the horizon," Manfred said in the league's official statement.

"We have provided the Players Association with a schedule to play 60 games and are excited to provide our great fans with Baseball again soon."

Worth noting, the Philadelphia Phillies just announced multiple cases of coronavirus after several players started training at the team facility in Florida ... so it'll be interesting to see what happens when more people enter the picture.

The last domino to fall -- an agreement on health and safety protocols, and ESPN's Karl Ravech says both sides have worked things out.

It was business as usual for Tom Brady on Tuesday ... the GOAT continued workouts with his new teammates -- this despite a COVID-19 outbreak on the Bucs roster.

TB12 got in the sweat sesh with about two dozen Tampa Bay players down at Berkeley Preparatory School in Florida for around two hours ... according to the Tampa Bay Times.

And, as you can see in a pic from the workout, TB12 was all smiles ... even though some of his new squadmates (presumably the ones NOT at the workout) have recently contracted coronavirus.

Over the past week, the Bucs confirmed several players and coaches tested positive for COVID-19 ... and the NFL warned teams to be careful about going through private workouts amid recent surges in positive cases.

Unclear what social distancing steps Brady and the Bucs took to limit possible exposure at their Tuesday practice ... but what we do know is Tom is at least very aware of the pandemic.

Remember, Brady was booted from working out at a closed public park at the beginning of coronavirus lockdowns ... and he's since helped donate SERIOUS cash to those affected by COVID-19 with his famous All-In Challenge.

As for how the Tuesday work went, regardless ... Brady posted about the effort on social media afterward, talking all about his sweat-soaked shirt.

The Arizona church hosting President Trump's Tuesday rally overplayed its hand by claiming it's got tech to zap away COVID-19 ... so say the owners of that technology.

Tim Bender -- the Chief Strategy Officer of CleanAir EXP, which sold the fancy air purification system to Dream City Church -- tells TMZ, the dudes who said they'd be 'rona-proof come Tuesday went overboard, and flat-out exaggerated about CleanAir's product.

He says that while their air purifiers theoretically can't hurt in helping fend off COVID-19 molecules, it actually hasn't quite been specifically tested to combat the disease.

What it has gone up against in a lab is 19's ugly cousin, COVID-229E ... which is said to be a surrogate of the big baddie, with a similar protein structure. Bender says in testing, ionized particles churned out via his system "neutralize" COVID-229E.

BTW, Bender tells us he would love to get in touch with the CDC to see if his air system can do some good on a larger scale -- but just hasn't been able to get in touch. He says he's hoping when Trump comes to town and hears all the buzz, it might help him make a CDC connect.

Sounds interesting, and maybe it will kick COVID-19's ass in testing -- but until then, CleanAir isn't trying to get ahead of itself. Unfortunately, one of its most recent customers, the Dream City Church, already has.

A Bay Area woman took out her social distancing frustration on a baby -- coughing and spitting into the kid's stroller ... all because she felt the mother and child were too close.

This sickening incident went down in San Jose, CA -- where an older white woman was seen entering a Yogurtland shop last Friday ... and was soon followed by a mother and her 1-year-old boy, who was in his stroller.

At one point, and seemingly out of nowhere, the older lady approached the mother and started coughing right onto the kid. The mother immediately tried to cover up her son.

Goes without saying ... this is straight-up not safe, and about as mean as you can get.

The woman walked out of the building as if nothing happened at all, but something criminal definitely DID happen ... so say cops. San Jose PD says it's on the lookout for the cougher, and are asking for the public's help to identify her.

D.L. Hughley's medical scare and subsequent positive COVID-19 test is triggering a major health inspection for the comedy club where he was performing.

A spokesperson for Nashville's Metro Public Health Department tells TMZ ... it's conducting a disease investigation of staff and customers in attendance Friday night at Zanies Comedy Club, where D.L. collapsed.

We're told the health department plans to conduct contact tracing ... getting in touch with everyone who was in the club to get them tested -- and ditto for anyone who had close contact with Hughley.

We're told everyone will be instructed to self-isolate for 14 days while their health is monitored daily by the disease investigators.

On top of that, we're told the Health Dept. has been in touch with Zanies since learning of D.L.'s positive coronavirus test to provide the club with guidance on cleaning and sanitizing.

We're told Director of Health Dr. Michael Caldwell has agreed to allow Zanies -- which has been temporarily closed since learning of Hughley's diagnosis -- to reopen Thursday after the venue has been thoroughly cleaned. An employee tells us the club already had a cleaning company come Sunday and wash the place top to bottom.

There's another catch too ... Zanies must comply with Public Health Emergency Orders for entertainment venues, including having the performer 15-feet away from the audience. In the video, it didn't look like D.L. had this distance on Friday night.

BTW, when the comedy resumes Thursday, Rob Schneider will take the stage for the first of 4 nights in a row.

So, Zanies will be open for laughs ... just at a distance.

Novak Djokovic is under fire for partying topless just days before his tennis tourney had a small coronavirus outbreak ... with one of Joker's peers calling the whole thing a "poor example."

Here's the deal ... the world's #1 ranked tennis player hosted a tournament in Croatia over the weekend but it was canceled before the final match because two of the tournament's stars contracted COVID-19.

As it turns out, one of the two guys who tested positive -- Grigor Dimitrov -- had been partying with Djokovic and several other famous tennis players at a Croatian hot spot just days before.

Check out video of the dudes posted to social media last week ... the men were dancing shirtless and raging their faces off -- with no masks or social distancing in sight.

But, when Dimitrov and another competitor, Borna Coric, tested positive ... the criticism for their big night out started rolling in.

Tennis stars all over bashed Djokovic for even trying to hold the tournament during a pandemic ... with Dan Evans going off over the clubbing in particular.

"Put it this way, I don’t think you should be having a players’ party and then dancing all over each other," Evans said. "He should feel some responsibility in his event and how it’s transpired."

Nick Kyrgios also chimed in on the event on Twitter on Monday, calling it a "boneheaded decision" to go forward with the tournament in the first place.

For his part, Djokovic has yet to release a statement on the backlash ... and is reportedly awaiting results of his own coronavirus test.

Djokovic made headlines at the beginning of the pandemic when he said he's against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.

The church where President Trump will host his latest rally since the pandemic has made some bold claims about its facility and coronavirus, and it sounds too good to be true.

Faith leaders for Arizona's Dream City Church -- which has 7 locations, including a Phoenix and Scottsdale location -- hopped online with a promo video hyping up this new technology they say they got their hands on ... which can, allegedly, wipe out nearly 100% of COVID-19 molecules in the air.

DCC's CFO Brendon Zastrow and Pastor Luke Barnett stood shoulder-to-shoulder in this bizarre clip, claiming Clean Air Exp -- an air purification org -- has a way to scientifically zap away 99.9% of the virus that might be floating around while people breathe.

They chalk it up to ionization, which they (and Clean Air EXP) say cluster pollutants in the air and attacks them ... which these fellas claim make it impossible for COVID-19 to live.

Zastrow and Barnett say this air purification system is up and running in their megachurches, and assure us it's safe for people to swing by and worship. The timing is anything short of suspicious -- DT's heading to their Phoenix site Tuesday for another rally.