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Los Angeles residents are used to seeing high-speed car chases on the local news, but the coronavirus pandemic has changed everything ... so this will have to do.

A paddleboarder was arrested in Malibu Thursday after he disobeyed the Coast Guard's order to get out of the water ... according to law enforcement. We're told there were other people in the ocean who complied and paddled in, but the rogue paddleboarder just kept paddlin' ... so L.A. County sheriff's got in their patrol boat and zeroed in.

The man chose to stay in the water near the pier for more than 30 minutes before swimming to shore, where he was arrested for disobeying lifeguard warnings and violating California Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order, which is a crime.

The paddleboarder now faces a maximum of 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine for his stunt.

As we've reported ... beaches closed in L.A. last week after many residents simply couldn't stay home and comply with social distancing rules.

Besides that, a leading scientist warned that the SoCal ocean water is one of the riskiest places to be when it comes to catching coronavirus, but clearly ... some people still aren't scared.

Charlotte Flair says she's feeling crazy pressure to deliver the best performance of her life at WrestleMania 36 this weekend ... especially since it could be the most-watched event in wrestling history!

Flair is taking on NXT women's champion, Rhea Ripley, during the April 4 and 5 event at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. It's one of the biggest matches of the event.

And, when Flair appeared on "TMZ Live" Friday, she told us straight-up -- "The pressure is on to deliver!"

Flair pointed out the fact there will be no live crowd at the event puts more of a focus on the wrestling performance -- and she knows she's gotta come through strong!

Also, since there's no other live sporting events due to the pandemic -- 'Mania could attract a record number of viewers.

"This might be the most-watched WrestleMania!"

There's more ... Flair also talked about Rob Gronkowski's involvement -- and while she respects the hell out of him, she's keeping it real about her in-ring expectations from the NFL superstar.

"I have a lot of respect for Gronk for what he's done with his athletic career but I always say this ... just because you're a talented athlete does not mean you're going to succeed in the ring."

"I'm so excited to have him as part of the team but I have no idea what his in-ring career will look like."

Earlier this week, we spoke with Charlotte's dad, Ric Flair, about Mania ... and yeah, HE'S FIRED UP! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Anyone down for a backyard marathon?!

Retired javelin thrower James Campbell said he'd run back and forth in his tiny garden 7,000 times if he got 10k retweets on Twitter ... and guess what -- he got the retweets!!!

So, the 32-year-old decided to live stream his whole backyard journey to prove he's a man of his word ... while asking viewers to donate to his fundraising campaign for COVID-19 relief throughout the event.

The #6MetreGardenMarathon took 5 and a half hours to complete ... and after word spread about his accomplishment, Campbell raised more than $33,000 for his cause!!

FYI -- Campbell is a damn good javelin thrower too ... he was once the 8th best junior thrower in the world.

"There’s not much positive news around at the moment," Campbell said on the "TODAY" show. "To take people’s mind off of it for a day and give them a bit of a laugh and a bit of entertainment, that job's done."

He added ... "It’s just been a very long week at home on my own."

"As soon as you gain momentum, it was like, if I’m going to do something like this, then it’s got to be for a good cause."

And, if you have nothing better to do, you can watch the whole marathon below.

As if the coronavirus name thing wasn't enough, now Corona beer won't be brewed at all ... in Mexico, anyway -- not for now.

Grupo Modelo, which brews Corona and several other brands, announced Thursday it would close operations at its 11 breweries in Mexico as of Sunday due to government regulations.

Mexico is closing all businesses deemed non-essential ... and that includes beer. The shutdown will impact Grupo's other brands too -- including Pacifico and all the Modelo brews.

Interestingly, it's open season for alcohol here in the U.S., where booze sales are reportedly booming while more than 40 states are under stay-at-home orders.

As the spread of coronavirus reached pandemic levels, there were several reports the beer sales were sagging, because ... well, people are simple and superstitious. However, company honchos claimed sales were actually up 5% in March.

The point is moot now -- and depending on how long the Mexican plants are closed ... a 6-pack of Corona could become a commodity.

Strange times, indeed.

Pretty awesome move from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft who sent his team jet on a mission to China to bring back 1.2 million N95 masks!

Kraft reportedly negotiated with several bigwigs around the globe to get the masks -- used by health workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic -- and once the deal was done, he sent the plane to Shenzhen, China to pick 'em up.

Once it touched down Thursday morning, the plane was only allowed to be on the ground for 3 hours while workers in full-body suits loaded up the masks.

The plane was reportedly upgraded to handle the cargo -- and get this, Kraft is said to have initially negotiated for 1.7 million masks, but they could only fit 1.2 million onboard.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker thanked Kraft and the Pats -- "No days off. Thanks to some serious teamwork, Massachusetts is set to receive over 1 million N95 masks for our front-line workers."

"Huge thanks to the Krafts and several dedicated partners for making this happen."

Both Kraft and Baker are expected to greet the plane when it arrives at Boston Logan National Airport on Thursday.

After it lands, the MA National Guard is set to bring the masks to a central stockpile in Marlborough.

Our sources say Kraft spent several million dollars on the mask mission -- which includes 300,000 masks he will be sending to NYC "out of respect for Andrew Cuomo’s leadership."

We’re told the 300,000 masks will be delivered to the makeshift hospital at the Jacob Javits Center on Friday morning.

”Kraft issued a statement saying, "It is an honor for our family to be a part of this humanitarian mission."

"We knew that purchasing greatly-needed N95 masks and providing the Patriots plane to expedite their delivery to local hospitals would immediately help protect our courageous healthcare professionals."

"Multiple organizations across the public and private sectors, all of which were in lockstep with Governor Charlie Baker's visionary leadership, worked together to execute this mission with the purpose of helping save lives."

"I truly hope that in doing so, we can in some way inspire others to find creative ways to give more in support of our doctors, nurses and first responders. It's nice to care for those who provide such compassionate care for us."

Cardi B is doing her part to make sure medical professionals risking their lives to save others get the nutrition they need while working 12+ hour days.

The rapper donated 20,000 bottles of OWYN -- a plant-based, vegan meal supplement drink -- to NYC-area hospitals for their medical staffs and ambulance crews. We're told she wanted to help the workers who, in most cases, don't even get a chance to eat during their shifts.

Cardi's had some health issues of her own recently, revealing Thursday night she dropped 6 pounds in just a few days with a nasty stomach bug. Cardi went to the E.R. earlier this week but she's home and recovering ... good news.

Cardi was also one of the first celebs to call attention to coronavirus before it hit hard, telling fans it was going to get "real."

As for the OWYN drinks she's donating, the product is 100% plant-based and without dairy, soy, gluten, egg, peanut, tree nut, fish or shellfish.

The dog walking community is hurting across the country -- almost everyone with a leash-for-hire is losing customers under the pandemic ... and it's forcing some of them to get adventurous.

Dog walking companies in L.A., NYC, San Francisco and Seattle all tell us the same thing -- business is tanking, down as much as 50% in some places ... and some have shut down altogether.

One of those is The Dog Walking Network in NYC. Manger Megan O'Leary says business dropped from 120 walks per day to just 30 before they suspended services last week ... after 11 successful years.

In Seattle, an early COVID-19 hot zone, Seattle4Dogs founder Mark Little tells TMZ ... he wasn't comfortable putting his workers at risk so he shut down on March 20 after 17 years in the biz.

Likewise, Hang Around Hound in San Fran, had to layoff 6 employees when it shut down on March 16. Owner Theresa Hedgepeth says several of her 400 clients have autoimmune disorders ... so she felt "reckless bringing their dogs to different neighborhoods when we didn't completely understand the risk."

Some dog walkers are taking precautions to ease the minds of owners worried about their own exposure and their dog's. For instance, Antonio Alfaro in L.A. only takes pups to Topanga Canyon for walks.

It's off the beaten path with relatively few people ... so there's less reason for his 120 clients to be concerned.

Wag! -- a bigger, national company -- is practicing social distancing for pickups and drop-offs, plus masks and gloves for all of their walkers. Based on pics Wag! walkers continue to post, they're rolling along just fine.

BTW, dog walking isn't specifically listed as an "essential business" under most state guidelines -- however, many include pet boarding.

And, for any owners concerned their dogs could possibly carry coronavirus if they go out -- the CDC says there's no evidence regular household pets are carriers.

PETA is not about to let a little thing like a deadly pandemic stop them from fighting for animals ... the protests won't stop, and grocery stores are the big target.

The animal rights org tells TMZ ... protests are focusing on supermarkets because they are one of the few businesses still open in the pandemic, and PETA wants people to make a connection between diseases like COVID-19 and animal agriculture.

PETA protested outside a grocery store in Reno, NV this week ... using a PETA cow to urge shoppers to save animals by going vegan. Next week, PETA says a chicken will be advocating a similar message to shoppers outside a supermarket in Sioux Falls, SD.

While some might question the optics of PETA protesting outside grocery stores in this climate -- scared shoppers standing in long lines -- the org says they've had no complaints from grocery stores.

PETA's got a heart for humans too, and they're taking steps to protect their loyal protesters from catching the virus.

Activists are standing 6 feet apart from one another at protests, and they're handing things out to the public from a safe distance -- at a recent protest, an extended grabber tool was used to distribute toilet paper roles to pedestrians that read, "wipe out animal illness, go vegan."

PETA's also going hands-free for vegan starter kits ... instead of passing out leaflets, a protester holds a big sign with a QR code so folks can download the leaflet on their phones.