Coronavirus

The Toronto Raptors better get comfortable in their new homes ... 'cause the team is officially finishing the 2021 season in Tampa due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Of course, that wasn't the original plan -- the team agreed to play the start of the season in Florida amid the coronavirus pandemic ... as Canada officials didn't want teams flying in from the U.S. and possibly spreading the virus.

At the time of the decision, there was hope things would clear up enough for the Raps to return to the 6 for the latter part of the 2021 campaign ... but that dream officially ended Thursday, with the team announcing they will play at Amalie Arena for the remainder of the season.

Team president Masai Ujiri released a statement on the decision ... saying, "Florida has been really welcoming to us and we’re so grateful for the hospitality we’ve found in Tampa and at Amalie – we’re living in a city of champions, and we intend to carry on the tradition of winning for our new friends and fans here."

"But home is where the heart is, and our hearts are in Toronto. We think often of our fans, of our Scotiabank Arena family, and all those we are missing back home, and we can’t wait until we can all be together again."

When is The King jealous of The GOAT??

Today, it seems ... 'cause LeBron James just said he was SUPER ENVIOUS of the epic championship celebration Tom Brady just had in Tampa Bay!!!

Just minutes after the Buccaneers star was captured on video seemingly drunkenly stumbling away from his SEVENTH Super Bowl title parade ... Bron tweeted about his FOMO.

"Man o man," LeBron said. "I wish we were able to have our parade too cause I would have been walking beautifully just like you!"

Of course, LBJ and the Lakers weren't able to have a Los Angeles celebration after their NBA title in October ... California's strict COVID guidelines prevented a party from going down.

Bron had been angling to try to make some sort of safe celebration happen ... but with the 2021 season already underway, it seems it may never go down at this point.

Clearly, LeBron is sad about that ... and can you blame him?! LOOK AT ALL THE FUN BRADY HAD AT HIS TITLE CELLY!!!

By the way, Brady poked some fun at himself over his boozy day ... jokingly writing of it all, "Noting to see her...just litTle avoCado tequila."

Tom Brady is such a VIP in the Tampa area, he gets a police escort on land and on water!!!

The Tampa Bay Bucs QB just arrived to the official Super Bowl boat parade which will take place on the Hillsborough River -- where players, coaches and staff will float around the Davis Islands before ending up at Sparkman Wharf.

Event organizers felt this was the safest way to celebrate the team since we're still in the middle of the COVID pandemic.

Boaters are allowed in the water but they must stay at least 50 feet from the vessels containing Bucs players and staff.

Tom is out in the brand new boat we told you about back in December -- it's a multi-million dollar state-of-the-art 40-foot vessel with all the bells and whistles.

It's named "Viva a Vida" -- which seems to be inspired by his wife Gisele's environmental conservation initiative.

By the way, Brady's teammates are showing big love to the QB who helped get them their championship ... with dudes wearing shirts that feature Tom's old draft picture on them!!

Head coach Bruce Arians, meanwhile, is already on the water holding the Lombardi Trophy. Other players are expected to arrive shortly.

story developing ...

Kim Kardashian sent a flowery token of appreciation to hospital staff who've been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic for nearly a year now.

Sources with knowledge tell TMZ ... Kim had a photoshoot earlier this week for an upcoming project, with an abundance of gorgeous flowers on a set designed by celeb florist Jeff Leatham.

Instead of just tossing the flowers out after the shoot was over, we're told they whipped up dozens of bouquets and delivered them to frontline workers at the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital ... along with a thank-you note.

Hospital CEO Keith Hobbs presented the early Valentine's Day gifts to his staff, including RN Catherine Pradt and several others.

Colin Cowherd was hospitalized Saturday night for what turned out to be a blood clot in his lung -- after a terrifying medical emergency at a restaurant.

The 57-year-old host of FS1's "The Herd" -- one of the biggest stars in sports talk -- says he was having dinner with his wife near his home in Southern California when he felt a sharp pain on the right side of his chest.

So, Cowherd phoned a friend who raced over, picked him up and sped Colin to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment.

Cowherd says he was in "incredible pain" and was understandably scared -- thinking he may have come down with COVID.

Doctors told Colin he tested NEGATIVE for coronavirus twice during his hospital stay -- but noted they found a small blood clot in his right lung.

The clot was limiting Cowherd's breathing so doctors admitted him to a room and used morphine to control the pain.

"I was pretty much knocked out with morphine, a narcotic, for 16 to 18 hours," Cowherd said.

Now, doctors are trying to figure out WHY Cowherd suffered the clot.

"I'm waiting for the blood work," Colin said ... "I have no idea why it happened. I have been doing a lot of skiing at high altitudes, traveling, that could be it. We don't know. We’ll find out in a few days."

Cowherd says he's already feeling better -- noting he went on a 30-minute walk on Tuesday ... "which is amazing considering where I was 48 hours ago."

Cowherd says the goal is to return to his show as soon as possible -- but the focus is on his recovery ... and he shouted out FS1 and iHeartRadio for being incredibly supportive during this scary time.

The North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team is apologizing for forcing the school to postpone a game after players were caught partying without COVID masks.

Here's the deal ... a bunch of UNC players celebrated Saturday night after beating Duke in a 91 to 87 victory -- and video of the after-party was posted on Snapchat, showing at least 2 star players turning up without masks on.

Obviously, we're still in the middle of a pandemic -- and large, maskless gatherings are strictly prohibited by the team.

The UNC vs. Duke rivalry is one of the most celebrated in all of sports -- and after UNC won this year, students flooded the streets of Chapel Hill to turn up.

UNC's next opponent -- the Miami Hurricanes -- saw the video and clearly felt uncomfortable sending the team out against a bunch of possibly exposed Tar Heels players They were supposed to play on Monday.

The ACC claims both teams mutually agreed to postpone the game because of the incident -- and now, the Tar Heels players are falling on the sword.

"Saturday night, a number of players and managers -- not just the ones shown on the video that was seen -- got together to celebrate our win at Duke," the team said in a statement.

"Our intention was to celebrate privately within our group. Unfortunately, we allowed several friends who are not members of the team to join the gathering. We were inside and not wearing masks, which were mistakes."

Among the players spotted in the video ... Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharp -- two of the team's best players, who combined for 27 points against Duke.

"We apologize for not adhering to the University's and Athletic Department's guidelines and apologize to Coach Williams and his staff ... We have worked too hard for 8 months doing the right thing to make those kinds of mistakes at this point in the season."

For his part, head coach Roy Williams says he "appreciated" the apology -- adding, "they realize they did make a mistake, for which they are paying a very significant price."

COVID vaccines are not making their way to underserved neighborhoods and it seems no one has figured out how to make that happen ... no one except Dr. Jerry Abraham.

Dr. Abraham runs the Kedren Community Health Center in South L.A., whose population is heavily black and brown. The County overlooked the Health Center in the vaccine distribution, but Dr. Abraham pounded on doors until he got their attention ... and the vaccines came.

The next hurdle was figuring out how to get South L.A. residents to the Health Center ... a tall order, given that many had no Internet to make appointments and no transportation. Dr. Abraham got all hands on deck and he and his staff went out to the community and helped people make appointments and then made sure they had a way of getting to the Center.

He's also put his psychologist hat on ... explaining to residents why the vaccine was so essential.

The upshot ... he's created a model that can become a shining light of equity in the distribution of vaccines.

One other thing ... he's also made it a party, with music and dancing to make sure people don't get frustrated and scared and bail.

U.S. Congressman Ron Wright has died from COVID-19 -- the first such sitting member of Congress to succumb to the lethal virus since the pandemic began.

The Texas Representative's staff made the announcement Monday, saying he'd passed Sunday while hospitalized in Dallas -- with his wife, Susan, by his side in her own bed ... as she too had been admitted after they both came down with COVID in January.

At the time his diagnosis was announced, on Jan. 21, Wright said in a statement that he was experiencing minor symptoms ... but more or less felt fine and was determined to keep working on behalf of his district. Clearly, his health took a toll for the worst.

His staff also notes ... he'd been battling and getting treatment for cancer in recent years.

He'd been serving in Congress since 2019, and was in his second term at the time of his hospitalization. A lifelong Republican, Wright had been involved in local politics down in Tarrant County, TX -- which covers a majority of the Fort Worth area. He served as an at-large member on Arlington's City Council, and at one point filled in as mayor pro tempore.

While Wright is the first active member of Congress to have died from coronavirus, another incoming congressman from Louisiana, Representative-elect Luke Letlow, died from COVID in December before being able to be sworn in and serve with his freshman class.

Wright was 67.

It's pretty amazing ... the actual Super Bowl will be COVID safe with rigid rules, while the City itself has gone in the total opposite direction, and all the proof you need is right on video.

Thousands of partiers crammed into the Ybor City and SoHo Districts in Tampa Saturday night and it couldn't be more unsafe ... almost no one is wearing a mask, and sardines have more room to stretch than these folks.

The crowd is a mix of college students from the area and lots of others who flew down to Tampa for some fun.

The City and the NFL have encouraged people to wear masks and socially distance, but it wasn't happening. You see police cars in the area but we didn't see any cop or other official trying to make things safe.  Probably wouldn't have done any good regardless.

The WTR Tampa Pool inside the Godfrey Waterfront Hotel was poppin' all weekend, with Steve Aoki performing Friday night and Diplo and 50 Cent taking the stage Saturday ... again, with COVID precautions non-existent.

Diplo can sure draw a crowd, because around 2,000 people swarmed the Godfrey Waterfront Hotel's WTR Tampa Pool Saturday night and -- aside from the whole COVID super-spreader thing that sometimes causes death -- a good time was had by all.

It looks very pre-pandemic, with music, a dance floor, bars, and fun shenanigans. And, as per usual, no social distancing and masks are few and far between.

The electronic music and light show are pretty spectacular, as fire dancers do their thing.

On a serious note, this is what is keeping Dr. Fauci and other experts up at night. Some of them have warned ... if there are 50 people in a crowd, there's more than a 50% chance at least one of them is carrying COVID.

With the variants spreading across the U.S. -- some of which are even more contagious than the COVID OG -- this and other events like it are disasters waiting to happen.

50 Cent also performed earlier in the evening at the same venue.

Here's what the event organizers demanded ... "Social distancing procedures will be strictly enforced, face masks will be required for all staff & guests, wellness and temperature checks will be mandatory for entrance, sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the venue, and continued cleaning protocols will provide regular sanitizing.” The best-laid plans ...

The Tampa PD was pissed ...“Scenes from WTR last night and a few other clubs were incredibly disappointing. The city spent the better part of a year educating residents on precautions due to the pandemic and have recently put a mask order in place for both the entertainment and event zones to ensure the safety of our residents and visitors to our great city.”

The night before, Steve Aoki headlined another bash at the same venue -- that was also super COVID unsafe.

The 'Real Housewives of New York' are set to resume production next week, but not everyone's happy. Our sources say some of the cast members are pissed at Ramona Singer over her reckless behavior, traveling maskless all over the world.

Production sources tell TMZ ... some cast members are livid after seeing Ramona hitting up St. Barts and parts of Florida while production was on hiatus. Making matters worse ... we're told the cast's fuming over the fact she threw caution to the wind and visited these places without practicing COVID guidelines ... like wearing a face mask.

Production has been shut down for nearly a month after a 'Housewife' and several crew members tested positive for COVID. We're told frustration mounted when Ramona was seen galavanting at tropical spots over the last few weeks ... even after the cast was specifically asked to stay in NY.

For what it's worth ... a source close to Ramona -- who in the past had been dragged over her quarantine behavior -- tells us the network was well aware she had been traveling. Our sources say Ramona will take a COVID test before she resumes filming.

And, speaking of filming ... we're told the cast will film in and around Manhattan early next week and in a couple of weeks head to Ramona's Southhampton, NY pad to film what was originally supposed to be a cast trip to upstate NY.

50 Cent hosted a wild Super Bowl party Friday night ... and although you see masks here and there, for the most part, it was COVID-oblivious.

The bash went down at a private airport hanger in St. Petersburg. The drill was for everyone to mask up and, with limited capacity, there was room for social distancing. Well, that was the plan.

Doors opened at 9 PM with tickets ranging from $85 for general admission to $7k for a stage table ... judging from the crowd there was enough disposable income to fill the joint.

Tampa's own DJ Fresh performed as well and everyone was very clearly up for a wild and good time.

The party barreled on way past midnight, and more is in store tonight, when 50's set to perform again.

Steve Aoki partied like it was 2019 Friday night, because there was absolutely no evidence of a pandemic.

The famed DJ headlined at WTR Tampa Pool inside the Godfrey Waterfront Hotel, in front of a massive, mostly maskless crowd ... you see a few masks, but that's about it. As for social distancing ... haha.

Steve broke open bottles of bubbly and sprayed the crowd, zeroing in on a few folks who got special attention and a giant gulp of champagne.

The show lasted for hours ... from midnight to 3 AM Saturday in the rollup to the Super Bowl.

There's lots more in store. Migos will play a day party Saturday followed by concerts by Diplo and 50 Cent later in the evening.

The event producers tried keeping everything COVID safe with various demands ... "Social distancing procedures will be strictly enforced, face masks will be required for all staff & guests, wellness and temperature checks will be mandatory for entrance, sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the venue, and continued cleaning protocols will provide regular sanitizing.”

Tory Lanez had a big bash Thursday night at the same venue ... again, it was packed to the gills with almost no masks in sight, and forget social distancing.

Jamaica's experiencing another unfortunate effect of both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic ... there's a severe weed shortage.

It's mostly affecting the Caribbean nation's illegal market, which is reeling after last year's hurricane season wrecked marijuana fields and the ensuing drought made it even worse.

On top of all that ... a strict 6 PM curfew, put in place because of the coronavirus, prevented farmers from taking care of the crops at night, which is vital to production.

And, while supply is low, consumption and demand have remained high because ... well, there's a pandemic, and this is Jamaica.

Awesome gesture from Roger Goodell and the NFL ... the Commish is opening up all of the league's stadiums and urging Joe Biden to use them as COVID vaccine sites.

Goodell made the offer in a letter to POTUS on Thursday ... saying he and the league want to do everything they can to end the pandemic and promote vaccinations.

In the letter to Biden, Goodell said 7 NFL stadiums are currently being used as mass vaccination sites ... but he insisted all of the league's other facilities are more than ready to take on the task as well.

"We can expand our efforts to stadiums across the nation more effectively because many of our clubs have offered their facilities previously as COVID testing centers as well as election sites over the past several months," Goodell said.

"We look forward to further discussion with your administration as well as your partners in state and local governments to advance this effort."

The offer to the President comes just a few days after the NFL announced it's giving away 7,500 free tickets to this weekend's Super Bowl to vaccinated health care workers.

Want to see LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Nikola Jokic take on Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid next month??

Apparently, De'Aaron Fox doesn't ... 'cause the Sacramento Kings star ripped the NBA on Wednesday for reportedly trying to put together an All-Star Game this season in the middle of a pandemic.

"If I'm going to be brutally honest," Fox said, "I think it's stupid."

"If we have to wear a mask and do all of this for a regular game, then what's the point of bringing the All-Star Game back?"

The NBA, according to ESPN, is trying to lock in an agreement with the Players Association to hold the annual classic on March 7 in Atlanta.

If safe, it seems like a great idea -- the NBA routinely has the most entertaining All-Star Game of any of the four major sports.

But, Fox -- who has a shot at being selected this year -- clearly would rather not see it ... given all the risks of COVID involved.

"Obviously, money makes the world go round," Fox said. "So, it is what it is."

Fox, though, did say he'd play in the All-Star Game if selected ... but with a smile, he noted, "If you're supposed to be in it, and you're not hurt and you decide not to play, that's a hefty fine."

"So, hell yeah I would play in it."