Coronavirus

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams says LeBron James can help end the pandemic ... explaining Monday if the NBA superstar takes the COVID vaccine, others will follow suit.

"LeBron James, I know you’ve been a big supporter of masks," Adams said on KTLA. "I want to know when you’re going to take the shot. Not the basketball shot, but the COVID shot."

"Because I did it because I know it’s safe, and we want to make sure people understand this is how we end the pandemic.”

Adams says if LeBron publicly vouches for the vaccine ... he's confident it could send a HUGE message to anti-vaxxers.

"That's how we promote confidence," Adams said. "We want people to lead by example."

Adams says he hasn't been able to personally reach out to LBJ with the request -- but he said if he were able to get a hold of the L.A. Lakers champ, he'd tell him to urge others to donate plasma as well.

Bill Bellamy says flying during a pandemic is inevitable ... he just wishes there was more accountability all around to help prevent what sadly went down on United Flight 591.

We got Bill out at LAX on Monday afternoon and talked to him about the man who died on a flight from Orlando to Los Angeles. It's a terrible situation for sure, but Bill says there are a few "security blankets" the airlines could implement to ease passenger's fears.

He tells our photog it would help if, for starters, people adhered to the honor system. Meaning, don't lie! If ya don't feel well, don't fly. But, he adds ... airlines need to get serious about COVID screenings, such as temperature checks.

As we reported ... United Flight 591 made an emergency landing in New Orleans but not before medics performed CPR. The man was later transported to a hospital where he died.

Bill says people who feel sick and board flights put the very same people who are trying to save their lives at risk.

NYC is getting wild when it comes to COVID-19 ... cops raided a club filled with more than 160 patrons who were not wearing masks, in clear violation of the state's COVID-19 restrictions.

The bust went down at around 2:45 AM Sunday in Queens when NYC Sheriff's deputies entered the joint to find the place packed like sardines. According to cops ... the shoulder-to-shoulder partygoers were entering the building through an alleyway.

Making matters worse ... the building is NOT set up to be a club -- so, on top of violating COVID restrictions, the operators were violating fire safety codes and didn't even have a liquor license.

The Sheriff's Dept says 5 people were charged with multiple offenses ... including violation of emergency orders.

In New York, there's a strict mandate prohibiting indoor and outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people who are not living in the same household.

This is not the first time cops in NYC have had to shut down illegal establishments. Cops busted one last month in Midtown Manhattan where nearly 400 people were partying their asses off.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just gave an awesome break-down of what's in the COVID vaccine, what it'll do and how it works ... this after getting the shot herself.

The New York Congresswoman hopped on IG Sunday to both document the Pfizer vaccine being administered to her by a health pro, as well as explain it ... which is truly helpful, since she talks in terms most people can understand, using a stellar analogy.

Check it out ... AOC says the vaccine being rolled out right now is NOT the actual virus, unlike other vaccines we take which often contain a dead version of the virus to train our bodies on how to recognize and fight it. This time around, we're getting a blueprint.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez characterizes it this way -- rather than having a live burglar break into your home and you learning how to ward him off in the moment, we're getting a photo of the burglar in hopes of being able to recognize it before said crook fully infiltrates.

That "photo" we're getting through this vaccine, as AOC illustrates, is called the mRNA of COVID (aka SARS-CoV-2), and it's meant to be a forewarning to the real McCoy. That way, if/when you come into contact with the virus ... your body's already prepped to stamp it out.

Denmark's decision to kill off all of their minks, out of fear the animals could spread a mutated version of COVID-19, is coming back to bite them -- because the little bastards are rising out of their graves, and slaughtering them might've been illegal to begin with.

A month ago, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen handed down a national order to cull the country's 15-million-plus population of minks that were scattered about in farms all throughout the country ... and the farmers who sell off their fur agreed and did just that.

The reason ... scientists discovered minks could catch COVID-19 from humans, have it mutate within their own bodies, and then transmit it back to people, which government officials feared could screw up vaccination efforts. So, they called the shot and wiped 'em all out.

Not all of the dead minks -- most of which were suffocated with CO2 -- were able to be incinerated ... millions had to be buried in mass trenches at said farms and elsewhere in the country ... which might've been a bad idea, 'cause they're literally back from the dead.

Gasses released from their dead bodies have been forcing their remains back above ground, and it's grossing people out. Not only that, but there've been concerns burying so many minks at once has compromised the drinking water supply in parts of Denmark.

Adding insult to injury, lots of farmers who agreed to go along with the PM's order are hurting and fear their business will forever be ruined ... since they killed off their product line. Not only that, it's now clear the Prime Minister didn't technically have the authority to order the deaths of an entire population of species ... which is forcing some major backpedaling and catch-up as far as legislation. They're apparently working to pass a law that retroactively gives the PM that power ... even though she didn't have it at the time.

The Danish Parliament agreed this weekend it's probably best to dig up 4 million of those dead minks and to burn them properly ... but thing is, that won't happen for at least another 5 months, when it's deemed safe to do so.

The PM has also apologized for the rushed decision, saying she was just doing what she thought was right for her people to keep them safe.

The United Airlines passenger who appears to have died from COVID-19 complications was laid out in the middle of the floor and getting CPR in a compact area -- which is now seen on video.

TMZ has obtained footage of the moment fellow passengers stepped in to do chest compressions on the man -- who fell unconscious earlier this week while United Flight 591 was up in the air and on its way to L.A. from Orlando.

As we reported, passengers say the man's wife said, during the emergency, her husband had various symptoms, including a loss of taste and smell and shortness of breath, yet he did not disclose this before boarding.

As you can see, it was a tense scene as passengers in surrounding rows looked on while one of three trained professionals administered CPR for almost an hour before the plane could land in New Orleans and get the man to a hospital, where he ultimately died.

One of those people who was rotating in to help was EMT Tony Aldapa, who gave us his first-hand account ... and it sounds like he was willing to risk potential exposure to help save the man's life.

No one knows for certain if the man had the virus -- but some of the passengers believe he did ... and also fear they may have been infected.  Tony tells us they took the man's mask off but replaced it with an oxygen mask. Still, it creates lots of worry for those on board.

It's a huge problem that has mostly gone unaddressed until now ... the fact that there's virtually no way of weeding someone out who might have COVID from getting on a plane and putting everyone else's life at risk. The honor system is only as good as the honesty of the passengers, and that's clearly a problem.

COVID has ravaged communities across the country, but we haven't heard much about the struggles of the good folks in Beverly Hills and Malibu ... that is until now.

Adam Carolla joked about the 2 upscale towns, but there was a message in his sarcasm ... he thinks many of the COVID restrictions are absurd, nonsensical and impossible to unearth the logic behind them.

Adam was on his way to Mastro's Saturday night to outdoor dine, despite the fact that most parts of L.A. County are now prohibiting dining at restaurants, period.

He's railed on this before, but this time Adam really leans in and makes his case. Adam, who has 14-year-old twins, is head-scratching over school closures despite what he says is a lack of evidence that keeping them open would be COVID unsafe.

London is in COVID free fall, as thousands of travelers crammed into train stations for the Xmas holiday ... this as a new, more virulent mutation of the virus rips across the country.

The size of these crowds is alarming, as this new form of the virus infects the population. The mutant virus spreads 70% faster than the original. Scientists think the vaccine will still work on the mutation, but they're not sure.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in mortal danger himself after contracting the virus earlier this year, was pushing to relax COVID restrictions, but he's abandoned that effort.

As for the new strain, it accounted for 28% of the COVID cases in London back in November, but this month it accounts for 62% of the cases.

The government imposed travel bans Saturday, but apparently, thousands of travelers didn't get the memo, because the train stations throughout London were jammed.

The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Germany have suspended flights to England because of the COVID mutation.

Scientists are looking for the next Elvis Presley to tamp down resistance to the COVID vaccine ... and if they're lucky they'll find someone as effective as The King.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has already said he's looking for celebrities, athletes and other influencers to shoot video of them taking the vaccine, to assuage fears and skepticism, which is considerable.

Turns out back in 1956, when polio was raging in the U.S., a huge percentage of young people resisted Jonas Salk's vaccine. In New York City, only 10% of young people got the shot a full year after it was on the market.

Enter Elvis ... who agreed to become the poster boy for the vaccine. The March of Dimes recruited him to get a shot while photographers snapped away.  Elvis obliged, smiling as he got stuck, and it made a difference.

The question ... who's today's Elvis? Beyonce's a candidate, for sure, but times are more complicated and people more cynical. Polio didn't become a political football the way COVID has, so it's going to be harder. Fact is ... the most influential person to influence others might be Dr. Fauci himself, who's about to turn 80.

A passenger on a United jet with nearly 200 others onboard was pronounced dead shortly after the pilot made an emergency landing, and it's almost certain the man had COVID.

It's gotta be terrifying for the other passengers ... the man was on the plane shaking and sweating, as the jet was making its way from Orlando to L.A.

The situation became so dire the pilot made an emergency landing in New Orleans. Medics performed CPR on the man, to no avail. He died at a local hospital. One such person on the plane who was helping to administer CPR was Tony Aldapa, who gave us the blow-by-blow from his own POV -- as he was one of just three people rotating for chest compressions.

Check it out ... he tells us they were in the air trying to keep the man alive for nearly an hour before they touched down in NOLA -- where the guy was taken away by waiting paramedics.

Now here's the scary part .... a United spokesperson tells TMZ the passenger declared he was not diagnosed with COVID and had no COVID-related symptoms.

That apparently was not true ... the spokesperson says during the emergency the man's wife was overheard saying her husband did indeed have COVID-related symptoms, including loss of taste and smell.

The incident occurred last Monday, and the CDC is now scrambling to contact the 179 passengers who were onboard.

A teenager who died from COVID-19 this year passed in a much more graphic manner than initially thought ... because the walls of his hospital room were drenched in blood.

13-year-old Peyton Baumgarth's coronavirus death in late October was well-documented, but photos recently shared by his mother, Stephanie Franek, show just how gruesome his final moments were as doctors and hospital staff tried life-saving measures that ultimately failed.

The kid had been put on a ventilator after going to a St. Louis hospital. Sure enough, he'd contracted the virus ... but his condition went from bad to worse in just days -- leaving him in need of a therapy called ECMO to level out his plummeting oxygen levels.

For some reason, after the treatment, Peyton started to hemorrhage in his chest, at which point he started having terrible coughing episodes that required emergency surgery. As docs tried replacing the ECMO tubes in his neck, the blood that had pooled there began spraying everywhere as they attempted to resuscitate him and get him breathing.

Peyton ultimately died, and his mother captured photos of the aftermath -- which included blood spatter all over the walls and machinery around his bed.

Stephanie's story serves as a cautionary tale -- she says she never thought she'd lose her son, despite underlying conditions he had that put him more at risk for respiratory issues. Friends and family of Peyton's have started a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has saved Xmas by making a secret sojourn to the North Pole ... armed with the COVID vaccine.

The good Doc was on CNN Saturday, fielding questions from worried kids who fear Santa has been sidelined by the virus. No Santa means no presents, right?

Well, Dr. Tony let the kiddies in on a little secret ... he slinked away from his desk over at the NIH and made the trek to the Pole, where he inoculated Santa himself.

Fauci got all scientific, saying he measured Santa's immunity level and he was good to go.

So Fauci had 2 saves in 2020. He promises to save us from COVID with various measures he's advocated and put in place, and he saved Christmas.

Apparently, an untold thousands of folks didn't get Dr. Fauci's memo about not traveling for Xmas ... or they're just ignoring it.

LAX was PACKED Friday night with many folks setting out to join friends and fam for a Christmas celebration.

Almost everyone is wearing a mask, but they are packed in like sardines for prolonged periods of time ... not ideal.

SoCal is in dire shape with ZERO ICU beds in L.A. and massive numbers of people testing COVID-positive. That's pretty much the case all over the country.

As we reported, a passenger on a United jet was almost certainly infected with the virus this week. With nearly 200 people onboard, the plane made an emergency landing where the sick passenger was taken to a hospital and died. He apparently lied before boarding, saying he had no COVID symptoms. His wife was overheard on the plane saying he did indeed have symptoms.

Marco Rubio did his part to show America the COVID vaccine is A-OK ... but how's the Senator from Florida so damn pale?!!

A self-deprecating Rubio said, "I know I looked away from the needle And yes, I know I need a tan But I am so confident that the #Covid19 vaccine is safe & effective that I decided to take it myself."

Members of Congress are among the first in line for the vaccine, given that they need to stay healthy to run the country, even though as a group they have failed miserably for months in coming up with a relief package for struggling Americans.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell have also gotten the vaccine, as did Vice President Pence.

Joe Biden will get the vaccine next week and he will do so on camera. The idea is to show the country the leaders who are advocating vaccinations are walking the walk.

Just over a month after "Impeachment: American Crime Story" started filming ... TMZ's learned it's been shut down due to COVID-19.

Production sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... 'Impeachment' halted its production this week because members of the cast and crew tested positive for the virus.

The exact number of cases is unclear ... but we're told it's "multiple." We're also told there's not yet a return date to resume filming.

It was just last week when we saw Sarah Paulson and Beanie Feldstein's remarkable transformation as Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinski respectively for FX's political drama.

And, this is interesting. We contacted FilmLA, the org that monitors and facilitates movie shoots in Los Angeles and asked if they knew about the shutdown over the virus. They told us they had no idea ... no one had contacted them.

The news of 'Impeachment' shutting down comes on the heels of "Shameless" production going into panic mode after initially thinking it had a COVID outbreak on its hands. But, as we first reported, a massive lab screwup was to blame for 18 false-positive tests.

Pfizer says it's sitting on liquid gold -- a warehouse packed with the COVID-19 vaccine -- but it can't get word from the government on where to ship them.

The pharma giant made the shocking revelation in response to allegations it was having issues with production and distribution of its vaccine after successfully shipping the first batch out earlier this week. Nearly 3 million doses have already been sent out, but now Pfizer's pointing a finger at the federal government.

Pfizer says, "We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses."

Bizarre, right?

The news comes as Moderna is on the verge of getting the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization, which would put 2 COVID vaccines on the open market.