Coronavirus

"Made shoes yesterday. Making masks today."

New Balance is turning its focus from shoes to protective masks during the coronavirus pandemic ... using its stateside facilities to help out with the huge demand.

The U.S.-based shoe company -- which also recently donated $2 million to COVID-19 relief -- debuted its prototype mask this week ... saying the goal is to make 100,000 masks-per-week to send to medical facilities.

"This is not a commercial opportunity," the company said in a statement. "NB is pursuing break-even pricing and/or donations for the face mask."

On top of the masks, New Balance is hoping to whip up other equipment like hospital gowns, foot coverings and other helpful items needed in hospitals.

Daymond John's issuing a dire warning to most brick-and-mortar retail stores struggling during the coronavirus pandemic ... adapt or die.

The "Shark Tank" star joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" and said -- with most of the nation under stay-at-home orders -- now is the time for businesses that usually rely on foot traffic to find new ways to thrive.

Let's face it, most retail stores typically in malls and shopping plazas were already struggling, but the pandemic closures are speeding up their demise. Daymond says luxury stores like Louis Vuitton, or superstores like Target and Walmart, will survive -- but most others will have to add offer some value to customers besides their product.

He says the future is in direct sales, just like a company he invested in on "Shark Tank." Smart plug, Daymond!

Oprah is cutting a huge check for coronavirus relief efforts ... with a massive $10 million donation to help folks struggling during the pandemic.

O just announced the huge pledge Thursday on social media ... and she's allocating $1 million of her donation to help feed hungry Americans who are food insecure.

Oprah says that money is going to America's Food Fund -- an initiative co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs which just got off the ground. AFF is aiming to provide meals for communities hit hard by the virus, and it's also backed by Apple and the Ford Foundation.

As for the remaining $9 million, Oprah says the money will go to various COVID-19 related relief efforts in communities across the country and in areas where she grew up -- Mississippi and Tennessee.

Oprah is the latest celeb to pitch in to coronavirus relief ... just this week, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively gave $400k to New York hospitals after a previous $1 million donation to Feeding America and Food Bank Canada.

Kylie Jenner, Bryan Cranston, Gwyneth Paltrow and more have also opened up their wallets.

Way to go, O!!!

Amazon's got a problem with drivers leaving bodily fluids behind along with the packages they're delivering.

The latest outrageous footage comes from Maryland, where a Ring camera caught a driver peeing on a homeowner's lawn, driveway and sidewalk last weekend as he stood outside his cargo van.

We're told the reason for the driver's outdoor urination was he locked himself out of his van, and apparently couldn't hold it any longer.

As you can see ... the driver looks around -- seemingly to make sure the coast is clear -- before deciding to take a leak right then and there.

The full Ring footage shows the delivery guy dropped off a package, but when he got back to his van he realized he had locked himself out ... so he had to call for help.

Unfortunately, nature also called while he waited ... and he couldn't hold it. Now, in this guy's defense ... in the middle of this pandemic, homeowners might, understandably, be less likely to let him in their home to use the bathroom. Likewise, using a public restroom -- if he could get to one -- seems like risky business.

We're told the homeowner has not contacted Amazon yet about the man peeing on his property.

Democrats are going to have to wait a little longer before they officially know who will be the party's presidential nominee ... cause the Democratic National Committee just postponed its presidential convention due to the coronavirus.

The DNC just announced it's pushing its presidential convention from July 13 to August 17 in Milwaukee. The move now means the DNC will hold its convention a week before the Republicans hold their convention in Charlotte.

The move also comes on the heels of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden publicly calling for the convention to be delayed as the nation continues to get a grip on the deadly coronavirus pandemic. BTW, there's still no clear timeline on when the nation, as a whole, will have flattened the curve on COVID-19 cases.

Joe Solmonese, the CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee, said, "In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention."

He went on to say, "During this critical time, when the scope and scale of the pandemic and its impact remain unknown, we will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of health care professionals and emergency responders."

Not only is Christian McCaffrey an NFL mega-star who's dating a flaming hot supermodel (hi Olivia) ... he's also doing his part to help out during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Carolina Panthers star running back just announced the launch of his "22 and You" COVID-19 relief program -- which will raise money to support front-line medical workers including physicians, nurses and other hospital staff throughout the Carolinas.

The 23-year-old -- who wears #22 -- says he felt compelled to take action after watching these heroes risk their own lives to save others.

"I am moved by the heroic and selfless efforts of our frontline healthcare providers throughout the Carolinas and beyond. As such, I have decided to launch an effort to help them in their life-saving work."

CMC says he's teamed up with his partners at Lowe’s Home Improvement and Bose -- both companies are making significant donations -- and the funds will be directed to the North Carolina Healthcare Foundation and South Carolina Hospital Association Foundation.

Christian says he will match the donations from those companies -- which is a pretty big deal considering he's still in the middle of his 4-year, $17 million rookie contract.

Chris Cuomo says the effects of the coronavirus are no joke ... it's been so bad he says he chipped his tooth from violent shivers and hallucinated seeing his dead father.

The CNN anchor ended his show Wednesday night describing the horrors he's experienced from contracting COVID-19 ... and he says he now gets why hospitals are being flooded with scared patients.

Cuomo said he was up all night Tuesday with a 103-plus fever "that wouldn't quit" and tightness in his chest. He said, "I was shivering so much, that Sanjay's right, I chipped my tooth." And for good measure ... he let his audience know his chompers aren't cheap.

Then, the hallucinations. Chris said, "I tell you, I was hallucinating. My dad was talking to me." Cuomo's dad is the former NY Gov. Mario Cuomo, who died in 2015.

In short ... Chris says the virus came at him like nothing he's ever seen or experienced. And he issued a warning to young, healthy and strong Americans ... nobody's safe from the virus.

But believe it or not ... what scares him the most is not knowing whether he may have spread the virus to his wife and kids. Chris said not being able to protect them has been difficult ... since he's now relegated to his basement.

As we reported ... Chris was diagnosed with the disease earlier this week. At the time, Chris said he was feeling well and would continue to broadcast his prime-time show from his home. But it seems the virus has really hit peak level.

The Florida pastor who got hauled in by police for hosting a megachurch service despite quarantine and stay-at-home orders has FINALLY done the right thing ... he's closing the congregation.

The Tampa-area minister, Rodney Howard-Browne, is shutting his church down and will not hold another packed Sunday service. He explained the decision on his own podcast/telecast and his reasoning is pretty interesting.

RHB says he's closing the church to protect his followers from what he says is a "tyrannical" government, NOT the rapidly spreading and dangerous coronavirus.

The pastor also says he and his congregation have been the target of death threats ... and he's blaming the media for blowing the story out of proportion, while throwing the sheriff under the bus.

COVID-19 is playing a role in RHB's decision though ... he says he doesn't want protesters showing up who might be infected with the virus.

It's an interesting decision from RHB ... Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared churches an essential function, making them exempt from the stay-at-home mandate.

RHB's lawyer, Patrick Leduc, tells TMZ ... before the governor came out with the order, RHB had already made his decision not to hold the Sunday service out of respect for the authorities. The governor's order took them both by surprise.

The coronavirus might be even more contagious and dangerous than we already think, and one scientist warns a super-risky place to be is near the ocean ... so she's urging folks to stay the hell away ... at least as the Pacific Ocean is concerned.

Kim Prather -- an atmospheric chemist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography -- strongly believes that COVID-19 could enter the Pacific and transfer back into the air along the California coast ... possibly infecting anyone still daring to surf, swim or simply take a walk on the beach.

Prather, who lives in San Diego, tells the L.A. Times ... "I wouldn’t go in the water if you paid me $1 million right now."

According to her research ... Prather's found the ocean contains all kinds of pathogens and constantly sprays these particles into the air, but the scary part is -- she believes the coronavirus is light enough to float through the air much farther than we think.

Translation -- social distancing doesn't work with the ocean. Kim drives the point home by saying ... "It’s not going to kill you if you miss a few surfing sessions, but it could if you go out there and get in the wrong air."

Prather's warning comes as the world's scientists are struggling to determine if COVID-19 can spread by more than just sneezes and coughs.

Even Dr. Fauci's publicly hinting the virus might be more airborne than originally believed and suggesting it's a good idea for everyone to cover their faces.

As of now, that's not recommended by WHO or the CDC ... but beaches across the country are closing to keep people from gathering in large groups and possibly infecting each other.

Clearly, Prather thinks the beach should be a no-go for everyone.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis -- the guy who until this week refused to order a statewide lockdown -- now says he thinks COVID-19 was likely spread at Super Bowl LIV.

The Republican governor said at a Tuesday press conference, the virus may have started spreading as far back as February in South Florida ... the area of the state with the most positive cases of the virus. Super Bowl LIV was held February 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

The stadium holds just over 62,000 fans but there were hundreds of thousands of fans who flooded the Miami area for festivities leading up to the Super Bowl. Florida's first positive cases of the coronavirus were reported on March 1 but at the time only those who had recently visited China were being tested.

As you know by now ... Florida's joining a long list of states now bracing for an even bigger outbreak. So far, there are more than 6,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and nearly 100 deaths in the Sunshine State.

DeSantis refused to close state beaches and allowed a bunch of college kids to descend on Florida and party for spring break.

Bad move ... cause now more than 40 spring breakers have tested positive for COVID-19.

The no-refunds rage continues -- this time it's folks on the frontlines helping us fight coronavirus who are getting screwed, and it's all because a cruise line won't budge.

TMZ has learned ... Royal Caribbean Cruises is NOT refunding a bunch of nurses who were supposed to board one of its behemoth boats this year for a networking convention called NURSECON at Sea, which was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

It sucks, 'cause it's left a lot of cash-strapped RNs pissed off and wanting their money back. They're getting a rain check for another event down the line, but that's not cutting it with some of the heroes who want their money back, and STAT.

According to a letter NURSECON brass sent to ticket holders for the conference, it's spelled out pretty clearly ... anybody who was going to NURSECON 2020 (which was at first postponed, later canceled) will get to join any NURSECON voyage in the future through 2023. They'll also get cruise ship spending credit -- up to $100 worth.

And, if nurses who were going ended up shelling out cash for extra vacay packages -- excursions, drink and meal plans, etc. -- Royal Caribbean WILL refund them for that -- but not for the big-ticket item ... the cost of the cruise.

That's about it ... no mention of a refund in full for the trip itself this year. It wasn't NURSECON's decision, however, as sources familiar with the negotiations between that company and Royal Caribbean tell us, it's actually RC Cruises honchos who wouldn't give the cash back. So, if there's someone to be mad at, it's the cruise line.

For the record, a rep for NURSECON doesn't see any blame to go around for anybody involved, insisting the rescheduled cruises and cruise credit was the best option for all parties, insisting that most of their patrons (the nurses) are actually pleased with the deal.

That's not how some of the nurses we spoke with directly felt. We're told the no-refund policy is a slap in the face -- and a promise for a future sail isn't making up for it either.

Fact is ... nurses, too, are having a hard time to make ends meet ... and every penny counts right now. They also deserve every break they can get these days, frankly. So, yeah ... they would like their money back, 'cause they didn't cancel ... the bigwigs did.

Just ONE Kennedy Space Center employee testing positive for COVID-19 requires a massive and pricey operation to sanitize every inch of the complex.

According to federal docs, obtained by TMZ ... just under $191k in taxpayer dough is being paid to several companies contracted to sterilize the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

One firm, LL & JP, received a total of $145,367 for cleaning "up to CDC standards for suspected or cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019" at Stennis ... which is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility.

According to the docs, the money came in 2 rounds -- first on March 18 for $80,986 and then again March 27 for $64,381. The second round came after 3 Stennis employees tested positive for the virus earlier this week.

Meanwhile, over at the legendary Kennedy Space Center, a firm called Brevard Achievement Center received $45,258 for janitorial services. The money was earmarked "for unanticipated precautionary coronavirus related tasks."

That's feds-speak for ... we had to scrub down real good after an employee recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Bottom line: There's no good place to contract coronavirus, but it's super expensive when it happens at NASA.

Cardi B is recovering after a trip to the ER for severe stomach pains she says she'd been suffering for days.

The rapper revealed Wednesday night that after experiencing "some real bad stomach problems for 4 days" ... she made the decision Tuesday night to go to the ER. Think about it, that's no small decision to make with the coronavirus pandemic raging.

She posted a photo of her hospital bracelet showing her age and date of service as March 31. Cardi said the ER trip had her feeling way better and she hoped to be pain-free soon.

She deleted the tweet shortly after posting, however.

The good news -- Cardi's already back to posting funny stuff on social media ... like a Donald Duck meme just hours ago about going back to sleep instead of waking up and cooking. She captioned it ... "Mood right f***in now."

Of course, Cardi saying she went to the hospital has people wondering if she has COVID-19, but so far ... there's no proof of that.

Get well, Cardi!

Well, we've never seen beer and football together quite like this before ...

Sean Payton says since the NFL has closed down his team's facilities amid the coronavirus pandemic ... he's moving the Saints' draft war room to a local New Orleans brewery.

For real.

The coach made the announcement Wednesday ... saying the team will set up its whole draft headquarters at Dixie Brewing Company (which is also owned by Saints honcho Gayle Benson) in New Orleans East later this month.

Payton -- who's just now getting over his battle with coronavirus -- says his team will take every precaution necessary inside the brewery to make sure they're not violating social distancing rules.

Sean says only around six or seven people -- including himself and GM Mickey Loomis -- will actually be on-site ... while the rest of his staff will be there via monitors in the room.

"This facility is fantastic," Payton said ... "We're certainly distanced away from each other. There's plenty of space. And, then the monitors have all the scouts and everyone else, so the total people in the meeting might be 20."

Payton added, each day those who enter the brewery will have their temperatures taken as an extra precaution to keep his employees safe.

The NFL Draft is slated to kick off on April 23. Payton's Saints currently hold pick No. 24 in the first round.

Book worms are turning to a holy trinity to bring them light and guidance in the coronavirus pandemic ... Carrie Underwood, Jessica Simpson and Jesus Christ.

Here's the deal ... book sales are up across the board as more and more Americans are ordered to shelter at home to avoid spreading the virus, and Carrie and Jessica are two of the most popular authors.

Carrie's book, "Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Find Your Soul," is No. 5 on the Top 50 list of best-selling books from all publishers ... according to NPD BookScan. From March 15-21, the start of the coronavirus outbreak, Carrie's book sold 10,741 copies.

Jessica ain't far behind ... her page-turner, "Open Book," is No. 8 on NPD BookScan's Top 50 list ... with 8,236 copies sold in the same time frame.

But, don't sleep on the Good Book ... as always, the Bible is super popular in times of crisis and uncertainty.

Folks at Tyndale House Publishers and LifeWay Christian Resources tell TMZ ... Bible sales are going strong as people look for ways to explore and deepen their faith in the face of COVID-19.

Tyndale House says Bible sales were up 55% this March compared to 2019, and most purchases are coming online.

Seems Carrie and Jessica are in pretty good company.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is getting a beefed-up security detail ... because our nation's top infectious-disease expert is now the target of a growing number of threats.

It's pretty crazy ... Dr. Fauci is facing threats to his personal safety and a wave of unwanted communications from fanatic followers, according to the Washington Post, forcing the feds to step up the good doc's security.

Fauci has fast become the face of the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic, often appearing on TV and taking the podium at President Trump's daily briefings, where he's unafraid to deliver harsh truths about the spread of the virus and the need for Americans to shelter in place.

But, with added fame comes added criticism ... and he's facing tons of backlash from different pockets and corners of the online community.

While Fauci is suddenly getting more security, the Post says the exact nature of the threats against the doctor remains unclear.

As we reported ... Dr. Fauci's face is now plastered on a super-popular donut at a New York bakery ... and now his admirers are reportedly approaching him with requests to sign baseballs and other strange requests.

Dr. Fauci's security detail includes agents from the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the Post, and it's been in place since Tuesday at least.

While Dr. Fauci and President Trump's messages on the virus have often clashed, Trump says everyone loves the doc.