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YNW Melly's request for jail release was denied, but not because his COVID-19 condition is improving ... we've learned the rapper is still feeling effects of the virus.

Sources familiar with Melly's situation behind bars tell us he continues to have labored breathing, body aches and headaches while in Broward County Jail, awaiting trial for double murder. We're told he still has a high temperature and chills, particularly at night -- and is getting Gatorade and Tylenol to ease the virus' effects.

While our sources say Melly's been isolated from his cellmate, who also tested positive, we're told jail staff is not checking on Melly every hour as they're supposed to be.

We broke the story ... the judge in Melly's case denied his request for release. He wanted to be able to get COVID-19 treatment on his own, but the judge said he must request special medical treatment from the Broward Sheriff's Office if needed.

It's unclear if he's done that. We reached out to Melly's attorney, Bradford Cohen, who declined to comment.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office wouldn't speak to Melly specifically, due to privacy laws, but did say ... if an inmate shows acute COVID-19 symptoms, they will be transferred to a hospital.

Translation: That's not YNW Melly at this point.

Pastor Tony Spell's lawyer has pneumonia in both lungs and is hooked up to oxygen after contracting COVID-19 ... TMZ has learned.

Jeff Wittenbrink tells TMZ he was admitted Tuesday to Baton Rouge Medical Center with the virus after his condition worsened over the weekend. In addition to pneumonia, he's battling a high fever and persistent cough.

Wittenbrink attended two services at Pastor Spell's Life Tabernacle Church ... on April 2 and April 5, which was Palm Sunday. He tells us he shook hands with the controversial pastor that day, but added Spell sanitized his hands immediately afterward. Wittenbrink says Spell does that after he shakes hands with everyone.

He also says he did NOT go to Easter Sunday service and his wife decided not to attend either ... given his condition. That being said, he doesn't think he contracted the virus while attending church.

Instead, Wittenbrink thinks he picked it up the previous week while doing his daily business and going to drug stores, grocery stores and hardware stores.

The Baton Rouge lawyer is repping Spell's Life Tabernacle Church in its fight to defy the state's stay-at-home order. All of this as Louisiana approaches nearly 2,000 hospitalizations due to the coronavirus.

As we first reported ... Spell said his parishioners are true Christians who wouldn't mind dying from the virus because they'd be doing so in the name of God and freedom.

Spell's church was packed on Easter Sunday ... and it seems nothing will stop him from continuing to do so. He's already been arrested once, and the police say they're working with the D.A. to build a case against him.

Ex-boxing champ Mia St. John says authorities in L.A. have repeatedly shut down her Alcoholic's Anonymous meetings due to COVID-19 ... but she claims it's now becoming a matter of life and death.

Besides being a 5-time world boxing champ, St. John has also struggled with substance abuse ... and now runs AA meetings in Los Angeles.

But, Mia says officials have told her to stop to the gatherings as a part of California's tough stance on coronavirus.

We spoke with St. John who says the situation is "absolutely ridiculous" because she's been following strict social distancing guidelines.

"We are abiding by the rules and regulations which is 6-feet apart. We're all wearing masks and I don't see a problem with it."

She adds, "It's interesting because in a grocery store, you're right on top of each other. People are much closer together, it's much more dangerous. So what we're doing is actually a lot safer."

Mia says AA meetings -- in person -- are "essential" ... saying face-to-face gatherings are simply more effective than virtual meetings one Zoom.

"I've spoken to so many people at these meetings that tell me they relapsed. I relapsed! I relapsed and I'm not blaming anyone but myself."

"I'm just here to say that people like me rely on our meeting to get us by. We rely on our sober friends to help us through and its a very difficult time I realize for everyone. If we're conducting our meetings safely, I don't see a problem with it."

R. Kelly's first attempt to get out of jail due to coronavirus fears didn't work, but he's going back to the well -- claiming his medical crisis is even worse now, and insisting he won't skip town.

The disgraced singer filed a renewed emergency motion obtained by TMZ asking to get released from lockup based on changed circumstances.

Kelly and his legal team say when he last asked to get out, the court noted there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Chicago jail where he's currently locked up. According to the docs ... that is no longer the case.

Kelly says the Chicago MCC admits there are at least 6 confirmed positive cases now among inmates -- along with 7 staff members -- and argues it's predictably going to get worse. He claims if he doesn't get out soon, it's an "absolute probability" he "will be infected with this deadly disease."

As we reported ... the judge denied his first release request earlier this month, saying the singer failed to explain how he wasn't still a flight risk.

Kelly's got a retort for that now, too -- he claims if he tried to run he would be "the most obvious and recognizable person on the streets of Chicago, or anywhere else in the country, in light of the severe stay-at-home restrictions."

Further, Kelly says there are no flights for him, he's afraid to fly, and he doesn't have a passport or the means to fly.

According to the docs ... he'd also agree to 24/7 surveillance and GPS monitoring to make sure he doesn't go anywhere other than home or meet with anyone other than his lawyers.

The judge has yet to make a decision.

NBA player Bismack Biyombo is stepping up in a BIG way for his home country ... donating $1 MILLION in supplies to help DR Congo fight the coronavirus.

"We have never experienced a crisis of this magnitude," the Charlotte Hornets forward said ... "Seeing my home country suffer in this capacity is devastating."

"I've spent the last few weeks trying to figure out a way to help those suffering in the DRC. I am pleased to announce that The Bismack Biyombo Foundation delivered over 10,000 masks and 780 hazmat suits to the DRC this week."

Altogether, the masks and suits are expected to add up to an impressive $1 million worth of supplies to help his countrymen battle the pandemic.

Biyombo's foundation points out the area has been riddled with deadly diseases for years -- from malaria to Ebola and more -- leaving the country in danger as it faces COVID-19.

TMZ Sports has obtained pictures and video of the supplies ... and the visuals show how far Biyombo's gesture will go for his country.

Biyombo hopes the gesture can slow down the virus from spreading so the country has a greater chance to fight

Dogs sporting medical-grade snout masks would have turned heads 2 months ago -- now it's becoming a common sight amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

These shots aren't just from pet-crazed USA ... the gallery shows dog owners all around the world -- countries in Asia, South and North America -- want to make sure their pets do NOT have a nose for COVID-19.

There is reason for some concern. As we reported, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have seen evidence of humans transmitting the virus to their pets -- cats and dogs.

So far, there have been 2 known cases of dogs testing positive ... both in Hong Kong. The masks on dogs couldn't hurt ... plus, most of 'em look kinda cute. Think Doggie Howser, M.D.

There are serious, even deadly warning signs of a resurgence of coronavirus after we re-emerge from self-quarantine because there's been A LOT of activity on dating/sex apps.

There's an app, Sensor Tower, that gives insights into traffic on popular dating/sex apps, including, Tinder, Bumble and Grindr ... and millions and millions of people are, at the very least, looking for love, and at worst, hooking up with strangers.

A month ago, just before we all started settling into our hermetically-sealed lives, Tinder had weekly traffic of around 9.3 million users. It has since surged to 10.2 million ... mind you, when most of us are in quarantine. And, the users are definitely in the market for something, because on March 29 alone, Tinder users swiped 3 BILLION times.

Grindr's been heating up over the last two weeks as well, with more people flocking to the app than any time this year. Roughly a month ago Grindr had 1.29 weekly active users, but a month later that number swelled to 1.57 million users.

Bumble had 3.63 million users a month ago ... it swelled to 3.88 mil in the final week of March, and now it's stable at 3.67 million users.

App downloads are way up too, according to Sensor Tower data. Between Tinder, Grindr and Bumble, there were 2 million downloads in March alone -- either new accounts or people redownloading their account on other devices -- and downloads for this month are approaching 1 mil.

The upshot ... based on people we've spoken with in preparing this story, people on the apps -- some but not all -- are still hooking up, which is insane and unsafe and puts not only themselves but loved ones at risk of getting sick or dying from COVID-19.

What we're hearing from making a bunch of calls ... some people are using the apps to just get to know people during self-quarantine. So, the question ... what do you think's going to happen when we're out of self-quarantine and young people who have been living like shut-ins are suddenly unleashed in the dating pool, and they've connected with people on the various apps? In case it needs to be said, it's not sex with strangers in itself that dangerous ... it's the close contact that's a recipe for transmission of the virus.

76ers partner Michael Rubin's dishing cold, hard facts about how he came up with the ingenious All In Challenge -- which already has Drake, Tom Brady, Meek Mill and so many more onboard.

Michael joined us on "TMZ Live" and talked about why he felt he needed to step up to help the millions suddenly in need during the coronavirus pandemic. When it came to figuring out HOW he could help, he says he remembered the phenomenon of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

That 2014 movement ended up raising a whopping $115 million during an 8-week period ... and Michael has equally high hopes for feeding hungry Americans.

Rather than relying solely on government assistance, Michael says he believes it's important for leaders in business, entertainment and sports to make a difference. Luckily, he falls in all 3 categories and called on his friends to join his effort.

They've responded in a big way for the All In Challenge. As we've reported ... Kevin Hart, Magic Johnson, and Justin Bieber are just a few of the MANY celebs who've embraced it.

Brady took things up another notch ... not only because he's donating his first-ever Bucs jersey, but also cause he challenged Drake. All the proceeds from the celeb auctions and raffles will go to help feed Americans affected by COVID-19.

Nuns in Spain are taking a break from the mundane, yet very essential, task of making sanitary masks ... with a full-court game of basketball!!!

At the convent of San Leandro in Sevilla, nuns have exchanged making their famous sweets for sewing much-needed masks, and when they need some time to get away and stretch their legs, they pick up a rock and shoot some hoops!

Ya gotta see the video ... these nuns know how to run and gun, or should we say, nun and gun. Seriously, the ball hardly touches the floor, you'd think they were coached by Paul Westhead.

It's kinda hard to tell which team is which, they're mostly wearing the same thing, but keep your eyes on the nun wearing white, she's dominating the paint like Pau Gasol.

Leonardo DiCaprio's got everything a man could need in quarantine ... a smoking hot girlfriend and an adorable little puppy!!!

The "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" star and his GF, model/actress Camila Morrone, made a rare outing Wednesday, taking their fostered Siberian Husky for a stroll down world-famous Sunset Blvd.

Leo kept a pretty low profile behind some shades, a hat and a surgical mask, and they both looked casual in sweats. Hey, we're all staying comfortable in quarantine.

The streets of Los Angeles are pretty barren these days, with folks being ordered to stay-at-home to slow the spread of COVID-19 ... but you can still head outside for some exercise, and Leo and Camila are taking full advantage with their pup.

Camila, who's been with Leo for over 2 years now, fostered the pooch at the start of quarantine and the pup's growing up to be just as handsome as Leo.