Coronavirus

Way too many politicians are setting a terrible example of how to act during the coronavirus pandemic, which is why the U.S. is failing so badly at containing it ... according to NYU's Director of the Division of Medical Ethics.

Dr. Arthur Caplan is laying much of the blame for surging COVID-19 cases and deaths at the feet of elected officials who have been caught flouting their own health orders, restrictions and guidelines.

Donald Trump has been spewing misinformation about the pandemic for months, and the most effective people to push back are the governors and mayors who were promoting mask wearing, social distancing, etc. Around 40% of the country won't take the vaccine, and these governors and mayors are critical in changing minds. But, a number of those elected officials have crossed their own lines, and Dr. Caplan says it does lots of damage.

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo's been the national counterpoint to Trump's misinformation campaign and a strong proponent of wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding indoor gatherings, but recently planned on having his mother visit for Thanksgiving after traveling.

Cuomo canceled that plan after being called out for it, but he's far from the only politician to go counter to the advice they give the public ... and Caplan says that's a major factor in regular U.S. citizens rejecting proper COVID precautions.

Dr. Caplan tells us we can't just allow politicians to get away with a "Do as I say, not as I do" approach to governing ... because it creates a dangerous double standard.

Instead, he says we desperately need our leaders to be role models during the pandemic ... especially with the crisis escalating and the all-important vaccine on the horizon.

Obviously, that means politicians like California Gov. Gavin Newsom should stop ignoring his own COVID guidelines by attending a restaurant birthday party with a bunch of people. The same goes for San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who attended a different party a day later at the same restaurant.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's been criticized for both getting a haircut during early lockdown days and joining a street party when Joe Biden won the election.

Sheila Kuehl, a member of L.A. County's powerful Board of Supervisors, voted to temporarily stop restaurant dining, but hours later she was chowing down at her favorite restaurant .. in fairness, before the restriction took effect, but still, it sends a bad message.

According to Caplan, these are the types of actions that make people think ... if government officials don't have to follow the rules, I don't either.

The COVID concerns pausing production on "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" run way deeper than an infected crew member ... we've learned several cast members also have the virus.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kyle Richards, Kathy Hilton and Dorit Kemsley have also tested positive for COVID-19. We're told they are all recovering at home and none of the women had serious symptoms.

The series started filming its new season toward the end of October, and our sources say there were safety protocols in place including testing and temperature checks ... but that couldn't stop a COVID outbreak from impacting production.

As you know ... 'RHOBH' shut down production last week after a crew member tested positive for the virus. Turns out even if the crew member was COVID-free, production would have shut down because nearly half the stars contracted the virus.

Our sources say Kyle, Kathy and Dorit did not contract COVID on set, but Kathy and Kyle were hanging out together -- after all, they're sisters -- and Dorit was along for the ride.

No bubble, mo' problems.

The NBA says 48 out of 546 players have tested positive for COVID-19 in its first round of testing for the 2020-21 season.

Yeah ... not great.

But, NBA officials aren't panicked just yet -- insisting they expected higher numbers off the bat as players leave their homes to rejoin their teams, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

The NBA says players were tested in their team's home market between Nov. 24 and Nov. 30 -- which the league has dubbed "the initial return to market testing phase."

NBA officials did not name names as to who tested positive so far -- but a spokesperson says all COVID positive players have been instructed to isolate in their team's city "until they are cleared for leaving isolation under the rules established by the NBA and the Players Association in accordance with CDC guidance."

Of course, the NBA does NOT plan on playing the 2020-21 season in the bubble environment at Walt Disney World in Orlando this time around ... despite the massive success it enjoyed earlier this year.

The move to host games in various cities isn't going over well with some players and execs including Philadelphia 76ers coach, Doc Rivers, who said he's "very concerned" about a bubble-free season.

Just look at the NFL ... they're not in a bubble and the 2020 season has been a mess -- with a bunch of players, coaches, execs and others testing positive on a fairly regular basis.

NFL games have been pushed, the quality of the play has been questioned ... and several top players have opted out.

Danuel House says he's "sincerely" sorry for his actions that got him booted from the NBA bubble in Sept. ... with the Rockets player telling reporters Wednesday the whole thing was a "mishap."

As we previously reported ... House got punted from Walt Disney World in Orlando after league officials said he violated rules by having an unauthorized guest in his hotel room.

House reportedly allowed a female COVID tester into his room ... which was a big no-no, with the NBA having a strict guest policy to try to limit a potential coronavirus spread.

House's exile was pretty big for the Rockets -- he was a key contributor who had been averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds per game in the playoffs -- and immediately after his departure, Houston got bounced by the Lakers.

Now, Danuel is breaking his silence on the incident ... issuing a mea culpa at the very beginning of his meeting with the media at Wednesday's Rockets training camp workout.

"I'd like to start off by apologizing to my team and the organization and the owner for the mishap that happened in the bubble," the 27-year-old said.

"I'm focused. It's behind me. It's in the past. New year, new season. Looking forward to growing and expanding."

Steelers d-lineman, Stephon Tuitt, just gave his teammates some advice that'll make fantasy owners salivate -- run up the score against the Ravens, 'cause this one's gonna be a cakewalk!!

Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore is minutes from kickoff after being delayed THREE times due to a COVID-19 outbreak ... which left several key players -- including Lamar Jackson -- sidelined for Wednesday's matchup.

Tuitt -- who is also missing the game after being placed on the COVID-19/reserve list over the weekend -- made sure his guys got some encouragement before kickoff ... and threw some shade at the Ravens in the process.

"Good luck to the boys today," Tuitt said on IG. "Pad the stats - should be an easy one. Eyeing my return for next week against Washington where I should catch up. I say it because I believe it."

A Staten Island bar's ripping a page from Seattle protesters' playbook by declaring an "autonomous zone" that's defying New York's COVID-19 restrictions ... and its patrons seem willing to go down fighting.

Sheriff's deputies raided Mac's Public House and shut it down Tuesday night for defying coronavirus health orders ... it was continuing to serve customers indoors. One of the owners, Danny Presti, was arrested for not cooperating during the raid -- and his loyal customers are pissed.

As Presti was being hauled out of his pub, a dozen or so patrons gathered outside in protest ... chanting "Hands off Mac's Public House."

As the unrest grew outside the bar, State Sen. Andrew Lanza showed up in an attempt to play peaceful mediator between Presti's lawyer, angry supporters and the authorities ... while also trying to get an explanation why Presti was arrested.

It doesn't seem like it came to a satisfactory conclusion though, especially for one fan of Mac's who's trying to rally a massive demonstration Wednesday night.

The guy posted his call to action as the raid was going down, pointing out what he feels is the hypocrisy of the new lockdown rules, and says he wants a thousand people lined up in front of Mac's to protest. Referring to the government, he shouted, "If they fear you, they won't f**k with you!!!"

Things definitely could get interesting tonight in Staten Island, which by the way ... is a state-designated coronavirus hot spot.

Spectacular Blue Smith was busted for allegedly punching a Disney World worker ... who told cops he tried to block Smith for fake sneezing and joking about coronavirus.

The Pretty Ricky rapper was at Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom Monday night where he allegedly pretended to sneeze before saying, "coronavirus." According to the police report, a Disney World employee didn't think the stunt was funny, and told SBS as much. But, the rapper allegedly responded, "I thought it was."

The report says the employee then tried to get the rapper to get out of the line ... saying, "Then you'll think it's hilarious if I asked you to step out of line." When SBS refused, the employee allegedly put his arm out to stop the rapper from moving.

That's when, according to the police report, Smith punched the employee on the right side of the jaw/temple area. For what it's worth ... cops say Smith's son told them his dad "lost his balance falling to the ground" while trying to duck under the worker's arm ... and when he reached out for something to grab, "accidentally punched [the worker] on his face."

Police say the employee told them he was in shock and thought he lost consciousness. The staffer was taken to a nearby hospital -- turns out he suffered a concussion.

According to police, there were witnesses who heard SBS and the employee's exchange. Cops say there were others who witnessed the rapper allegedly punch the employee. Smith was arrested for battery. He posted $500 bond.

A woman in Spain could only scream and writhe in pain after getting tased by cops ... and it's all on video.

The incident went down in the town of Sabadell -- about 30 minutes north of Barcelona -- where police whipped out their Tasers after they say the woman kicked officers while resisting arrest following an alleged assault on medical workers, a crazy chain of events that begins with her violating COVID rules.

The woman admitted to breaking virus protocols by trying to bring her mother to her doctor's appointment and also copped to kicking the cops, but she says she only kicked because police used excessive force when they tased her in broad daylight before stunned bystanders.

The police, meanwhile, stand by their use of the Taser ... again, claiming she assaulted staff at the doctor's office and gave a cop a kick while resisting arrest.

It's a pretty intense video ... and the woman needed a hospital trip for her injuries and spent the night in jail after being booked for assault.

A few dozen swingers are battling an outbreak ... of COVID-19 after couples passed around the virus, along with their partners, at a New Orleans convention.

The 5-day Naughty in N'awlins romp last month turned into a super spreader event, with at least 41 swingers testing positive for the coronavirus ... according to one of the organizers.

Naughty Events honcho Bob Hannaford says the swingers convention did everything it could to try and stay COVID safe -- touchless check-ins, temperature checks, extra sanitizing, wristbands denoting who previously tested negative or had antibodies. It wasn't enough to stop the positive tests in the aftermath of all the raunchy fun.

The first positive test came back the day after the swingers convention ended and 40 more followed. Out of the 300 swingers who attended, 41 have tested positive. That's a positivity rate above 13 percent.

While at least one swinger was hospitalized, the majority of the positive cases showed minor symptoms or were asymptomatic. The organizer's having second thoughts about the whole event ... saying he wouldn't swing there again, in hindsight.

Kendall Hinton's run as starting QB for the Denver Broncos is over ... probably.

The team's top 3 QBs -- including starter Drew Lock -- have been cleared to return Wednesday after testing negative for COVID on Tuesday, according to ESPN.

Remember, Lock -- along with backups Brett Rypien, Blake Bortles -- were all placed on the team's COVID list over the weekend after being deemed "close contacts" with QB Jeff Driskel, who had tested positive for the virus on Thursday.

The QBs reportedly did not wear masks around Driskel during an informal film session on their day off -- which led to all FOUR players being blocked from playing on Sunday against the Saints.

The team was so desperate for a QB, they turned to Hinton -- a practice squad WR who hasn't played a snap at QB since his college days at Wake Forest.

He tried his best ... but the Broncos got smashed in a 31 to 3 blowout.

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio said the team is still mulling a possible punishment for his top 3 QB, including a fine.

Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis -- who also tested positive for COVID this season -- issued a statement Tuesday saying, "We share in the disappointment of our fans for the challenging and unique situation our team faced at the last minute this weekend."

"While it's easy to point fingers, all of us must take responsibility and work together to prevent it from happening again.''

Here's Exhibit A of lockdown fatigue meeting plain old bigotry -- and the end result is, you guessed it ... a hate-spewing "Karen."

This woman, not wearing a mask, went on a homophobic rant while protesting outside the home of L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. The video starts with the woman firing off a homophobic slur at the person recording her. She added Nazi and brainwashing accusations too ... just for good measure.

There were about 50 people marching Sunday, most of whom seemed to merely be protesting the economic impact of California's latest round of coronavirus restrictions -- but this woman's hate speech made her stand out from the crowd. In the worst way possible.

Believe it or not, the video got even worse when the woman made an outlandish accusation about abortions. Also worth noting is her wardrobe choice for the occasion.

Unfortunately, she comes off like a big ball of 2020.

Finally, a possible light at the end of the pandemic tunnel for sports fans ... Dr. Fauci says according to his calculations, NFL stadiums could safely be at full capacity by next September.

"Oh, that's possible," the coronavirus expert told Yahoo Sports this week. "I think that's possible.”

Fauci says with COVID-19 vaccines on the way from Pfizer and Moderna ... the timeline for allowing NFL teams to hold games with 60,000-plus fans in every seat could line up with the league's opening day in Sept. 2021.

The bad news? The doc says there doesn't appear to be much hope for full, 20,000-plus seat arenas in the 2020-21 NBA season.

"We're gonna be vaccinating the highest-priority people [from] the end of December through January, February, March," Fauci said. “By the time you get to the general public, the people who'll be going to the basketball games, who don't have any underlying conditions, that's gonna be starting the end of April, May, June."

"So, it probably will be well into the end of the summer before you can really feel comfortable [with full sports stadiums] -- if a lot of people get vaccinated."

Of course, some teams -- like the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns -- have allowed fans in their stadiums this NFL season, although none has been anywhere remotely close to full capacity.

Kim Jong-Un is more like Donald Trump than we think, in that he's reportedly willing to take experimental coronavirus treatments ... including an unproven vaccine.

A new report citing Japanese intelligence officials claims the North Korean dictator and his inner circle within the government have all gotten a 'rona vaccine from China within the last 2 to 3 weeks.

Unclear which pharmaceutical company developed the vaccine for Kim and co., but there are apparently 3 main players out there that have been working on some ... none of which have launched final-stage clinical trials.

So, in other words ... right up DT's alley. You'll recall -- POTUS received a few drugs during his bout with 'rona (some of which were experimental) ... such as dexamethasone, remdesivir and Regeneron's antibody therapy.

Kim getting vaccinated is interesting because N. Korea as a whole's been in denial about the pandemic -- the country's officially denied tracing even one confirmed case of COVID-19 ... which no one believes, of course.

They've also reportedly closed off the border with China ... beefing up security to keep people from crossing in either direction.

Even Lewis Hamilton couldn't outrace coronavirus ...

The Formula 1 superstar announced he tested positive for COVID on Monday after experiencing mild symptoms -- and has already begun a 10-day isolation.

"Even though I returned 3 negative results this past week, I woke up yesterday morning with mild symptoms and requested another test which came back positive. I've immediately gone into self-isolation for 10 days," 35-year-old Hamilton said.

Of course, Hamilton raced -- and won -- at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, sparking concerns other drivers could be infected as well.

Hamilton's positive test -- combined with the symptoms -- means he won't be allowed to race at this weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain.

"I'm gutted not to be able to race this weekend but my priority is to follow the protocols and advice to protect others," Hamilton said.

"I'm really lucky that I feel OK with only mild symptoms and will do my best to stay fit and healthy."

Hamilton says he's been working hard to follow all of the COVID safety protocols -- and wants his fans to know he wasn't taking stupid risks and being irresponsible.

Jake Paul threw a rager of a party at his Calabasas mansion after knocking out Nate Robinson -- something that's infuriating the Mayor, and which could end up costing Jake.

If you peeped Jake's social media Saturday night -- or that of his brother, Logan, or any of his YouTube buddies -- you probably saw they had a massive bash at what appeared to be his Calabasas crib ... which was packed, and mostly maskless.

COVID was absolutely the last thing on anyone's mind as hundreds of people partied their hearts out ... which is a slap in the face to the Calabasas community, according to Mayor Alicia Weintraub.

She's condemning the party, telling TMZ ... the gathering Jake hosted this weekend was no doubt a super-spreader event just waiting to happen, and that he should be ashamed of himself for allowing it when so many are suffering from the virus.

Mayor Weintraub notes she's aware he was celebrating a massive victory -- but frankly, she says that doesn't matter ... the pandemic's more important.

Ironically, it's actually because of Jake and other influencers and celebs in the area that Calabasas adopted new COVID restrictions this past summer pertaining to parties like this, including a $100 fine for folks not wearing masks in public.

On this specific case ... Mayor Weintraub says neither her office nor the authorities were notified of Jake's blowout as it was happening, which she finds strange considering neighbors have flagged authorities about other Calabasas parties.

As for what will happen now ... it's a little hazy, but it doesn't bode well for Jake. Sources familiar with how the city's typically handled COVID scofflaws ... tell us officials are actively looking into ways to punish Jake.

We're told it's tricky since he wasn't caught violating their ordinances on the spot, but they still might able to ding him -- possibly with a fine, or other methods.

It'll be "Wednesday Night Football" for the NFL this week ... the league has officially found a new date for the Steelers vs. Ravens game, this after Baltimore players reportedly scoffed at a Tuesday matchup.

As we previously reported, the game was all set to go down on Thanksgiving night ... but it got pushed to Monday due to positive COVID tests.

The coronavirus cases, though, didn't slow down over the weekend ... with Baltimore being forced to place over 15 players -- including reigning MVP Lamar Jackson -- on the COVID/reserve list.

So, the NFL tried to reschedule the game for Tuesday night to allow the Ravens' cases to subside ... but Baltimore players were reportedly PISSED over that idea.

Seems several Ravens players felt Tuesday was still too soon because they would be playing a key division game without their best players.

According to Pro Football Talk, the Ravens were so upset the game wasn't pushed even further, they were considering a "wildcat strike" ... which is when people in a union strike without the support of the union. In this case, the union would be the NFL Players Association.

In the end, the NFL -- pending no more positive cases between the two teams -- decided to move the game to Wednesday night.

Unclear if the unhappy Ravens players are satisfied with the new date or if a possible strike is still on the table.