Coronavirus

The NBA is one vote away from starting the upcoming season on Dec. 22 ... with owners and players reportedly set to approve the proposed 72-game plan on Thursday.

The decision to start the season before Christmas Day will save the league between $500 million and $1 BILLION, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The NBPA will meet to officially agree on the quick turnaround -- remember, the Los Angeles Lakers just won the 2020 championship on Oct. 12 after the league initially delayed the season due to COVID-19. back in March.

As of right now, the 2020 NBA Draft is set to go down Nov. 18 ... with training camps opening up Dec. 1.

The White House's coronavirus crisis last month is sparking a serious sanitizing mission ... and feds are spending thousands to keep the place virus-free going forward.

Regardless of who wins the Presidential election -- as we know, that's still very much up in the air -- a cleaning crew is going to be spraying down the place with a disinfectant mist.

According to federal financial docs, obtained by TMZ, the Public Building Service agency's dropping nearly $29,000 on the cleaning service in the East and West Wing "due to Covid at the White House."

Coincidentally, the cleaning contract started on Election Day and runs through November 2, 2021.

As you know ... President Trump tested positive for COVID-19 in early October about a week after a large ceremony at the Rose Garden to announce his new Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

Along with the Prez, several other members of his staff and guests at the event also contracted the virus, and Trump was hospitalized for a few days before returning to the White House -- maskless, of course.

Bill Belichick believes the 2020 NFL season is a "joke" because of the toll the COVID pandemic has taken on the league ... at least, that's what ex-Pats lineman Matt Light thinks.

The retired Super Bowl champ says he's convinced Belichick doesn't give a DAMN about New England's horrible 2-5 record ... arguing that with all of the canceled practices, missed training camp, mandatory quarantines and rescheduled games, no one is taking the 2020 season seriously anyway.

"This is not the game of football we all know," Light said Tuesday on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show."

"It’s something other than that. Bill recognized it early on. I firmly believe that."

The Patriots look pretty terrible right now -- and would be last in the AFC East if not for the NY Jets being a complete dumpster fire.

Light -- who played under BB from 2001 to 2011 -- says he's convinced Belichick is focusing on building a better team for the future when "we can play for a real championship, with real players getting after it, fully prepared, getting ready to go."

"5 years from now, when we look back on this season, are we going to be talking about it?" Light asked.

Denver Broncos president John Elway has tested positive for COVID-19, the team confirms ... the latest in a string of positive tests within the organization.

"John immediately left UCHealth Training Center [Broncos practice facility] on Monday morning after experiencing minor symptoms that he quickly brought to the attention of our medical staff," the team said in a statement.

The 60-year-old NFL legend is one of two Broncos execs who tested positive Tuesday morning -- the other is Broncos' CEO, Joe Ellis.

"After not feeling 100% on Sunday morning, Joe promptly reported his symptoms to our medical team and watched Sunday's game at home as a precaution," the team added.

"He continued to work from home on Monday before receiving a positive test result this morning."

Both execs are NOT at the team facility at the moment and are following the NFL's COVID protocol.

"Other than mild symptoms, both Joe and John are doing well. They will continue to work from home in self-isolation and participate in virtual meetings while their health is monitored."

60-year-old Elway and 61-year-old Ellis both believe they contracted the virus OUTSIDE the team facility.

"There were minimal close contacts identified for each (no players or coaches), and those individuals have been notified."

The team has been dealing with COVID issues over the past week -- with offensive lineman Graham Glasgow testing positive on Friday, leading the team to cancel practice that day.

Another big potential COVID problem for the NFL ... Ravens star Marlon Humphrey tested positive for the virus Monday after playing in 100% of Baltimore's defensive snaps vs. the Steelers on Sunday.

Humphrey announced the positive test Monday morning ... saying in a tweet, "I got the Rona hopefully I’ll be back healthy soon."

Of course, the test results now pose a massive issue for the league ... 'cause they could signal an impending outbreak.

According to multiple reports, the 24-year-old cornerback took his COVID test prior to the Steelers game ... but did NOT get the results back in time to keep him off the field.

So, Humphrey played ... and not only put his team at risk of exposure ... but the entire Steelers offense as well.

In fact, Pittsburgh tight end Eric Ebron tweeted about his worry over catching Humphrey's virus ... posting a photo of the two from the game and saying, "this was not 6ft."

The Steelers said in a statement none of their Sunday tests came back positive ... so they'll now wait to see if anyone contracted it during the game. Pittsburgh is set to play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a similar situation played out in Green Bay ... Packers running back AJ Dillon tested positive for coronavirus Monday morning after playing several snaps against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

President Trump gave his Florida rally crowd what they wanted -- a strong suggestion he's going to send Dr. Anthony Fauci packing after the election.

Trump was addressing his supporters in Opa-locka shortly after midnight when he began talking about COVID-19 ... specifically, repeating his misleading claim that the country is "rounding the turn" on the pandemic as cases and deaths surge.

This prompted the crowd to break out in a "Fire Fauci!" chant, to which the Prez implied he's already planning to ax America's leading infectious disease expert.

Trump said ... "Don't tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election ... I appreciate the advice." The crowd loved it.

The President added that Fauci's a good guy but has been wrong about a lot, something he's repeated as they've openly feuded in the media over the last months.

Trump recently said the country is tired of listening to "Fauci and these idiots." If he wins, seems likely Trump would take that as a sign most of the country agrees with him.

There was no Quarantine 15 for Cristiano Ronaldo ...

The Juventus striker returned to the pitch Sunday after spending nearly 4 weeks in isolation battling COVID-19 -- and proved he's STILL JACKED!

35-year-old CR7 initially tested positive around October 13 while training with the Portugal national team. He was sent to his palatial estate to ride out the virus.

He finally tested NEGATIVE on Friday, and was allowed to rejoin Juventus on Sunday as they took on Spezia at Dino Manuzzi Stadium in Italy.

First chance Ronaldo got to remove his shirt, he did -- showing his bout with the 'rona has ZERO impact on his insane bod.

Good god, man ... have a carb once in a while.

Of course, Ronaldo was rocking his signature undies during his little strip tease ... because he's ripped and business savvy!!!

As for the game, Ronaldo entered the match while it was a 1-1 tie ... then scored 2 goals in a 20-minute span. Yeah, dude's back.

Juventus went on to win, 4-1 ... and Ronaldo's abs are clearly the MVP.

Welcome back!!

Justin Turner is back in Los Angeles -- less than a week after he tested positive for COVID at the World Series in Texas.

The L.A. Dodgers star was spotted at his L.A. home on Sunday. He didn't venture out in public. Just isolated at his house.

No word on when the star 3rd baseman made the trip -- or how he traveled back to the west coast ... but it seems to be relevant considering the L.A. County Health Dept. says people who test positive must isolate for 10 days before they can have contact with other people.

Several Dodgers players flew from Arlington to L.A. on the team jet after the World Series -- but 35-year-old Turner was not on that flight.

Remember, Turner found out he had tested positive for COVID-19 after Game 6 of the World Series had begun on Tuesday.

He was pulled out of the game in the 7th inning once the team had been informed of his positive test -- but MLB says he refused to adhere to COVID protocol and re-entered the field after the game was over, possibly exposing teammates, staffers and others who were celebrating the Dodgers victory.

At one point, a mask-less Turner was sitting next to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, a cancer survivor -- during a celebratory team photo.

Trump campaign rallies have become major super spreader events, resulting in tens of thousands of COVID cases and hundreds of deaths ... this according to Stanford Univ.

Stanford scientists conducted a study of 18 Trump rallies all over the country. The conclusion ... 30,000 confirmed coronavirus cases that resulted in more than 700 deaths.

The study offers a rough estimate because this type of tracking is imprecise, but the authors estimated by looking at the incremental COVID increases in the areas where the rallies were held.

The deaths are not necessarily limited to people who attended the rallies ... people who became COVID-positive could have spread the disease to friends and family who may have contracted coronavirus and then passed away from it.

As you know, Trump's been crowing that he's immune from COVID, at times even offering to kiss folks in the crowd. He infamously said, "I'll walk in there, I'll kiss everyone in that audience. I'll kiss the guys and the beautiful women ... I'll just give ya a big fat kiss."

Trump's campaign honchos reportedly told the staff at his Tulsa rally to 86 the social distancing signs before people piled in, many if not most not wearing masks.

A Halloween party packed to the gills with TikTokers, YouTubers and many others was unceremoniously broken up by cops after numerous complaints that the bash was COVD unsafe.

It went down Friday night in swanky Bel Air, CA., with scores of partygoers crammed together in tight spaces ... most of whom are not wearing masks.

Cops showed at around 2 AM after receiving multiple complaints from neighbors about noise, COVID restrictions and parking issues.

Police broke up the party without incident and the costumed partygoers got up and left ... many with drink still in hand.

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost's wedding announcement on the Meals on Wheels Instagram account paid big time ... for the org, which saw an influx of donations.

A rep for the meal delivery program tells TMZ ... the org saw approximately $10k in donations in the 24 hours after the Meals on Wheels IG account broke the happy news earlier this week. The rep says the online donations came directly from the link it posted on its IG profile.

The org's social media team also had reason to celebrate -- the Scarlett and Colin post had nearly 10 times more "likes" than their previous top post. If nothing else, the Scarlett and Colin news brought people to the MoW page that otherwise might not have ever visited, which, TBH, is unfortunate because the folks over there do a tremendous job feeding the needy.

It's easy to see why Scarlett and Colin chose to let Meals on Wheels break the story ... they've been longtime supporters of the org. The rep tells us the couple had been looking for creative ways to address senior hunger and isolation, especially as the pandemic is disproportionately impacting the population it serves.

The rep added, "We are grateful that they chose to share their wedding spotlight with vulnerable older adults across the country, illuminating their critical needs and what Meals on Wheels is doing to ensure no senior is forgotten."

Duly noted!!!

Soccer fans, rejoice ... Cristiano Ronaldo is free of COVID-19!

The superstar's team, Juventus, made the announcement Friday ... saying the 35-year-old has finally tested negative after contracting the virus nearly three weeks ago.

"Cristiano Ronaldo carried out a check with a diagnostic test (swab) for Covid 19," the team said in a statement. "The exam provided a negative result."

"The player has, therefore, recovered after 19 days and is no longer subjected to home isolation."

It's great news for Juventus ... the squad won just 1 of its 4 games with Ronaldo out -- and lost its highly anticipated matchup with Lionel Messi's Barcelona team on Wednesday.

As we previously reported, it was announced on Oct. 13 that Ronaldo had COVID ... and he had quarantined himself every day since.

Though, based on his isolation pics, it didn't seem THAT difficult ...

Another COVID scare in the NFL -- this time, the Denver Broncos confirm a player has tested positive ... so Friday practice has been canceled.

The team has not released the identity of the player -- but notes he is already "at home in self-isolation along with two other players who were determined to be close contacts."

The Broncos note they have been following guidelines and working with the league and medical experts. But still, stuff happens.

"As a precaution, we have made the decision to postpone today’s practice and conduct virtual meetings in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Chargers."

"The team is scheduled to return to UC Health training Center for practice tomorrow."

The team adds, "The health and safety of the players, coaches and staff will continue to be of the highest priority."

Also worth noting, the Chargers have also canceled a practice this week due to a player testing positive.

Seems the NFL has had COVID issues every week since the season began — even stars like Cam Newton have been affected.

Hold the balloons and confetti -- President Trump is reportedly bagging on a planned election night shindig at his hotel in Washington D.C., and it could be a major sign ... of several things.

The event scheduled for Tuesday night at his Trump International Hotel was billed as THE Trump campaign's celebration of winning 4 more years in the White House, and POTUS would be in attendance. An email invite to the bash screamed, "It will be absolutely EPIC, and the only thing that could make it better is having YOU there." Very Trump-esque.

However, the Prez is now opting to watch the poll results pour in from the White House ... according to the New York Times.

Now, Democrats will say the Prez is running scared ... eyeing poll numbers that show him trailing anywhere from 3 to 8 percentage point. Another option could be the administration finally adhering to coronavirus concerns. Current D.C. restrictions are for no more than 50 guests at a party.

The more likely option though is the strong likelihood the election won't be decided on Tuesday night -- so, what's the point of filling a ballroom if ya can't pop champagne bottles?

Clayton Kershaw wasn't on the Dodgers team flight back to L.A. after the World Series -- instead, the star pitcher says he drove home after the COVID scare.

"After the bubble, I drove home," Kershaw said on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" ... "I'm home already."

Kershaw is from Texas -- so, he may have meant he drove back to his home near Arlington. Either way, seems clear he wasn't on the team flight back to L.A.

Of course, Kershaw was seen hugging teammate Justin Turner moments after winning the World Series on Tuesday ... despite the fact Turner had just been informed he tested positive for COVID-19.

As we previously reported, MLB claims it ordered Turner to immediately isolate to prevent exposing other people ... but JT refused and got up close and personal with several teammates coaches and staffers.

Turner did not join the Dodgers on the flight back from Arlington to L.A. -- and apparently, Kershaw didn't either.

Kershaw and Cody Bellinger also told Kimmel that Turner's positive COVID test impacted the team celebration after the game ... because they didn't get to turn up in the locker room as they hoped.

"With everything going on we had to be a little chill," Kershaw said.

"I, at least, got to cheers the guys and we all got to at least have a beer together."

Bellinger added, "Wasn’t the ideal celebration that we all had in mind when we won our first championship but it was still a great time. The feelings now and yesterday are incredible."

There's more ... Bellinger also addressed rumors that he looked HIGH ON WEED during the World Series!

Belli says he would never smoke on the job -- but admits he has a naturally stoney-looking face!