Coronavirus

See's Candies -- perhaps the most iconic chocolatier in America -- is facing a bittersweet ending (for now) ... halting production because of coronavirus, which makes it a historical pause.

See's made the announcement this weekend, saying it was temporarily closing up shop and suspending production of its famous chocolate sweets across the country. In their words, they say, "Given the current events with COVID-19, and our concern for the health and safety of our employees, we have made the decision to initiate an interruption once again."

They continued, "We will work to keep you updated as we develop plans to safely resume operations." The official See's website won't even let customers place any new orders at this point -- explaining it has also put a stop to shipping of any new candy.

See's hasn't closed its doors or stopped working since the 1940s, when it interrupted production back then because ... well, the global war that was going on, and rationing provisions placed on the country. Since then though, it's been up and running ... until now.

They've been in business since 1921, opening up their first location in Los Angeles and going on to establish multiple locations across the U.S.A. -- with the Bay Area becoming their HQ. The See family follows the age-old recipe of their matriarch, who's also the kind, old face you see on every See's box of chocolates ... Mary See.

See's has been channeled in and out of pop culture for decades -- perhaps most famously through 'I Love Lucy' and the chocolate factory conveyor belt scene that became iconic ... as Lucy and Ethel tried their hand at wrapping and packing chocolates in hilarious fashion.

Of course, there's also 'Forrest Gump' and its own legendary references to boxes of chocolate. The list goes on and on -- See's has always been there either directly or indirectly.

Desperate situations require desperate measures ... and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just unveiled a new, albeit crude, ventilator that may fit the bill, but he says it's "an unacceptable situation."

The Guv held his daily news conference Saturday, and demonstrated how the device -- called a Bag Valve Mask -- would work. Regular squeezes could keep a patient alive. Problem is ... you need someone to squeeze it 24/7. Cuomo made it clear ... he prays it won't come to this.

Cuomo also revealed an insane problem over ventilators. The cost when the pandemic began was $25,000 a pop. Now it's closer to $45k, because the various states are bidding against each other to snag the equipment. Bidding wars, Cuomo says, in the middle of a pandemic, are ridiculous.

As for New York, Cuomo says the feds have shipped 4,000 ventilators but none are in use yet ... he says they need the equipment because the spread of the virus will get a lot worse before it gets better ... and NY hospitals are already pushed to the limit.

Churches in New York are steadfast in keeping their doors closed amid the coronavirus pandemic to continue slowing the spread ... despite President Trump's plan for an Easter revival.

TMZ has spoken with 9 NYC church leaders, and all of them are standing firm in vowing to keep their places of worship empty on April 12 holy day.

Reverend Peggy Clarke of Community Church New York tells us ... she considers Trump's push for Americans to attend church together in a couple weeks "stunningly unethical," adding "Easter is a celebration of love and victory over death. The best symbol of that will be empty churches on Easter Sunday."

Rev. James Ross Smith of The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin says while he's incredibly sad about not opening his doors on Easter, he shares Rev. Peggy's sentiment. Smith says ... "It is our responsibility and duty to take care of each other, and one of the ways we do that is by listening to the health experts."

Another leader we spoke with, Pastor Patrick Thompson of New City Church, has been personally affected by the pandemic -- he tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday after experiencing symptoms of a fever about a week ago, and is in self-quarantine.

Thompson says ... "We are focusing on our new reality. Church isn't just about gathering, it's about sending people out. Even if we get a go-ahead from the federal government, we will not meet in person on Easter for safety purposes."

The pastor tells us he was distributing meals to homeless shelters and senior centers with members of his church just days before he began feeling symptoms of the coronavirus. Thing is ... they were wearing masks and gloves, so it highlights how dangerous it would be for church members to congregate too soon ... especially with NYC being the epicenter of the COVID-19 onslaught.

All of these churches -- along with Church of St. Francis Xavier, Grace Church, Trinity Church Wall Street, Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, Church of the Incarnation and Holy Family Catholic Church -- agree that Trump's push for a public Easter celebration isn't going to affect their decision to remain closed.

They may be preaching to the choir in NYC, but in other parts of the U.S. ... the President's goal to business as usual on Easter is gaining traction.

God help us.

Drew Brees did way more than just write a $5 million check to Louisiana ... he's also doing the research to guarantee that money helps the state's battle against coronavirus the way he intended.

The New Orleans Saints quarterback tells TMZ ... it hurts his heart to see people losing their jobs and their livelihoods across the state and the nation -- so he and his wife, Brittany, knew they needed to do something in a time of such uncertainty.

As you know ... Drew and Brittany committed $5 million to the state. He explained why they specifically wanted to address the nutritional needs of children and the elderly during the pandemic. You can tell the Brees fam did their homework.

Drew says he knew people on the front lines treating COVID-19 patients in hard-hit Louisiana -- and New Orleans, especially -- would need all the support they could get. Ditto for the state's normally thriving hospitality industry.

Honestly, the guy is amazing and has a very focused mission: "Putting people's mind's at ease that, listen, we're gonna find a way to get through this together and take care of one another."

We have so much more with Drew on Monday's "TMZ Live" ... including his bond with the people of Louisiana, and NBC's Hoda Kotb.

An E.R. doctor who dared to sound the alarm his hospital did not have enough PPE's to protect hospital staff has been fired ... according to the doc himself.

Dr. Ming Lin says he was given his walking papers from PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington, after he pled with folks on social media and other outlets for the hospital to get more gloves, masks and other items that protect doctors and nurses from contracting the coronavirus. As you know, the disease has hit Washington state with a vengeance.

Dr. Lin, who worked at the hospital for 17 years, says he was unceremoniously fired by a supervisor who told him, "You've been terminated."

Dr. Lin reportedly took it in stride, telling the Seattle Times, "It's a blow to my ego more than anything."

Lin had been very critical of the hospital, saying it wasn't protecting the staff. He claimed on social media the hospital would not screen patients outside the facility for COVID-19 ... so when they got in the E.R. safety became a crapshoot.

It's hardly worth saying at this point, but the coronavirus does not care if you're a royal or a pleb ... because the first member of a royal family has died from the virus.

Princess Maria Teresa, a member of the Bourbon-Parma Royal Family in Spain, died Friday at age 86. She had tested positive for the virus and her younger brother announced the news she died from COVID-19.

Spain has been rocked to its core by the coronavirus. 5,690 people have died from the virus ... with no end in sight. 832 people died in the last 24 hours alone.

Well, at least a few things haven't changed ... because Tyler Cameron is fueling rumors he's dating Hannah Brown like he's hanging on to his 15 minutes for dear life!

Tyler, Hannah and Jacob Laham were answering questions from fans after their weekly Instagram workout sesh ... held at the direction of fitness model Phil Fit.

Of course, Tyler's asked if he's dating Hannah, and his response ... "Me and Brown Bear are dating, yes."

Well ... Weird nickname for her, but ok. Besides, you see Hannah nod in the background.

Turns out ... we're told Brown Bear is Jacob's nickname. So, he didn't say yes and he didn't say no.

Brody Jenner does not disappoint ... he's apparently self-quarantining with the help of a very attractive UCSB grad.

Brody and his UCSB alum made a food run Friday, ending up at Erewhon market in Los Angeles. They shopped, and then beat a hasty retreat in Brody's pickup.

Brody's been a busy dude. He was dating Josie Canseco, but that ended in October. Before that, he called it quits with Kaitlynn Carter after a year of "marriage." It actually was never a real marriage ... they had a ceremony in Indonesia, but never made it official.

Ben Stein braved the outdoors Friday to make a trek to the market ... and the image is gripping.

Ben's 75, so he's in the high-risk group. He looked frail as he hit up Pavillions supermarket in Los Angeles ... with an assist from a nurse.

The "Ferris Bueller" teacher walked slowly as he entered the store ... without protective gear.

It's a snapshot that tells a story of the frightening times we're in, where going to the grocery store becomes a scary proposition.

Post Malone is fighting coronavirus in the most Posty way possible -- he's rounding up his biggest celeb friends for a virtual beer pong tournament for the ages!!!

TMZ has learned ... the "Circles" singer teamed up with his good friend and fellow rapper, MIKE -- FKA Mike Stud -- to put on a huge Instagram Live event to raise money for COVID-19 relief, dubbed "The Ballina Cup."

We're told the bracket will include 16 teams ... with names like Travis Kelce, Rob Gronkowski and his SI Swim model GF Camille Kostek, Johnny Manziel, Machine Gun Kelly, Kane Brown, MLB aces Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger and more slated to participate.

So, how did this come to be?? A lot of the participants organically got involved after being guests on MIKE's "Ya Never Know: You Know What I Mean?" podcast hosted by Notorious.

The tournament will take place over 8 days starting next week ... with 2 matchups per night (from the comfort of everyone's homes. Remember, social distancing!!)

The winning team will go home with a dope trophy, wrestling belts and chains to commemorate the victory.

There are no betting odds on the tourney just yet, but remember -- MIKE and Post won $50k on a game in the past, so you know they got skillz.

We're told all the participants will chip in their fair share of dough to help those battling the coronavirus pandemic ... so it's not all just for getting lit during quarantine.

Oscar De La Hoya says it's time to bury the hatchet with Floyd Mayweather -- at least for now -- so they can team up and raise money to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Yo, THIS IS A BIG DEAL -- THESE GUYS HATE EACH OTHER!!!

You don't have to search too hard to find out about the animosity between these two -- there have been some NASTY insults thrown both ways ever since they fought back in the day.

But Oscar -- who just donated $250K to the Adventist Health White Memorial hospital in L.A. -- says it's time to let that go ... so they can focus on helping people.

"Floyd ... I challenge you to a push-up contest and whoever wins you gotta donate more money! Let's do this! Let's help people out."

He also calls out Dana White -- another guy he hasn't exactly been on the best of terms with over the years -- inviting the UFC boss to team up for the sake of the country.

"We have to come together in these tough times."

AND GET THIS ... Oscar even gives props to President Trump for signing the $2.1 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill -- saying he's proud of POTUS for making it happen.

Myron Rolle -- the ex-Florida State star who left football to become a doctor -- tells TMZ Sports his hospital is being overtaken by COVID-19 cases ... saying they're "struggling for bed space."

Rolle -- who left a promising NFL career to attend med school in 2013 -- has been working as a neurosurgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital ... and tells us things are getting scary when it comes to coronavirus.

"We're right now, struggling for bed space and personnel to take care of the surge and influx of COVID-19 patients that are just knocking down the door," Rolle says.

Rolle says things have gotten so bad ... they've cleared out the entire neurosurgical floor in his building and transformed it into "a COVID-19-only" area.

"They've tried to recruit neurosurgery residents and nurse practitioners to sort of help out in the surge," Rolle says. "So, it's sort of an all-hands-on-deck deal right now."

The most frightening part about Rolle's revelations is Massachusetts has just 2,417 confirmed cases -- nothing compared to what New York, which has nearly 40,000 cases, is dealing with.

But, Rolle tells us he's down to join the efforts in helping sick patients ... saying he believes it's only a matter of time before he gets pulled onto the front lines.

As for the sports world in the pandemic ... Rolle says it wouldn't surprise him if leagues had to take a whole YEAR off, in order to help stop the spread of the virus.

By the way, we asked Rolle about the decision he made to leave football for a medical profession ... and he says he has ZERO regrets about the choice -- even during times like these.

STEVE BALLMER!!!

The L.A. Clippers owner and his wife Connie just pledged more than $25 MILLION to help fight the battle against COVID-19!!!!

And, get this ... $10 MILLION of that pledge is earmarked for the Univ. of Washington Medicine’s Emergency Response Fund to expedite testing for a vaccine!!!

How 'bout them Clippers now, huh!?!?!

Of course, Steve -- who made his fortune as the CEO of Microsoft -- is reportedly worth more than $50 BILLION so, dude can afford to cut those big ass checks. It's still an awesome move.

The rest of the cash will go toward relief efforts in Seattle, Michigan and Los Angeles, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk.

Ballmer is the latest big name in the sports world to pitch in -- just yesterday, Drew Brees pledged $5 MILLION to the State of Louisiana.

Conor McGregor, Rihanna, Kylie Jenner and more have also opened up their wallets.

LET'S GO!!!!