Coronavirus

Luke Bryan wouldn't let the pandemic stop him from making an amazing wish come true for a young fan with cerebral palsy ... and her reaction will melt your heart.

Luke sent a special, personalized video to Emma Lookatch, brightening her day with a loving message and telling her he's hopeful they can meet in person when the coronavirus pandemic subsides.

Emma's a huge Luke Bryan fan, and the good folks over at Kids Wish Network -- a charity that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses -- had arranged for her to meet Luke on the set of "American Idol," a meeting that was dashed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

While he couldn't meet Emma in person this time, Luke recorded a special greeting and sent it to her and her parents ... and ya gotta see Emma's reaction as she watches the message on a brand new iPad and Beats by Dre headphones.

Barcelona's Liceu opera is back in business after more than 3 months of silence, but its return concert leaves a lot to be desired ... mostly, a human audience.

In a truly bizarre sight, the musicians for Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu opera put on a show for nearly 2,300 nursery plants placed in the seats instead of people.

Organizers of Monday's concert say the goal was to raise awareness of how important audiences are in post-lockdown life, and to reflect on the absurdity of human life amid a pandemic. Check and check!

As an added bonus -- all the plants will be donated to frontline health workers.

The Concert for the Biocene comes one day after the end of Spain’s state of emergency. The country has been one of the hardest hit by COVID-19, at least in Europe, with more than 28,000 deaths.

The Liceu says it hopes the show reaffirms the value of art, music and nature and paves the way for returning to normal activity.

Joey Chestnut is BUMMED there won't be fans at this year's Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, but there's a huge silver lining ... Jaws says the conditions are ripe for a NEW WORLD RECORD!!

Chestnut -- the greatest competitive eater of all time and 12-time Nathan's champ -- currently holds the record for most dogs devoured in 10 minutes ... 74 in 2018's contest.

But, Joey tells TMZ Sports come July 4 -- thanks to the competition being moved indoors without fans 'cause of COVID-19 -- he's primed for a record-shattering performance.

"There's a little bit of a bonus 'cause we're gonna be eating in air conditioning and they're less eaters, so they're making less hot dogs so they might taste better," Chestnut says.

"There's a good chance that we might have better conditions for a world record and I'ma be pushing for it."

FYI, the hugely famous contest usually takes place on NYC's Coney Island. New York City in July = insane heat and humidity ... making it difficult to scarf down pounds of meat.

But, with the changes, Joey's confident he will set a new record ... but how many more wieners can a human possibly scarf down in only 10 minutes?

"I'm breaking the record this 4th of July! This is gonna be a weird 4th of July, but I'ma make it memorable. My record 74, 75 just sounds like a good number but we'll see," Chestnut tells us.

"If I'm feeling it, if I'm in the perfect rhythm, 77 is doable."

Florida Man is back with a vengeance -- this time, he's fighting his way into a Walmart, which has a mandatory face mask policy ... but FM NEEDS his discounts, 'rona be damned.

This wild scene went down Saturday in Orlando, and it starts off right in the thick of the action. An elderly man tries storming his way into a Walmart without a face covering -- but gets stopped by an employee at the front door. That wasn't gonna stop gramps here though.

He immediately got physical and started pushing his way through -- even shoving the masked employee out of his way ... to some success, at first. The guy did get by him -- after taking a tumble during the struggle -- and then started heading for some aisles. But, this Walmart employee (of the year?) caught up to him and held his ground ... give him a raise!

On the second go, he had backup with him -- just a regular Joe, it seems -- who chimed in and told the guy to get the hell out. He also noted the dude was getting his germs all over the place by making such a big fuss -- meanwhile, almost everyone else had coverage.

It seems the two-man press was enough for the old-timer to call it quits and scram, empty-handed at that. Guess he'll have to wait to get his weekly batch of $5 DVDs ... too bad.

Anyway, the whole time you can hear the cameraman laughing it up -- and while we'll admit it's pretty funny watching this absurdity unfold ... it's also pretty jarring and surreal.

Ex-NBA star Shawn Marion says the LAST thing players should do is sit out the 2020 season ... saying sitting out will diminish their chances at making a bigger difference in the fight against racism.

Superstars like Kyrie Irving have expressed their uncertainty over restarting the season in the middle of the Black Lives Matter movement ... with the Nets star saying players' focus should be on fighting for social justice.

Ex-NBAer Stephen Jackson -- who was friends with George Floyd -- sided with Kyrie ... saying, "now ain't the time to be playing basketball, y'all."

But, the Matrix disagrees with the idea of sitting out ... saying the biggest platform to fight for social justice is on the NBA stage.

"In order for you to advocate and go out here and show what you're fighting for and the causes, you need to be on TV," Marion says.

"Social media is a great platform, but TV is a bigger platform because you can post whatever you post on TV, you can post to your social media platform."

"So, with the season resuming, it adds to that cause."

Matrix -- who acknowledges Uncle Drew has a valid point -- says players will be able to speak out in interviews and press conferences ... which brings a much bigger audience than a Twitter account.

But, as for sitting? -- "I don't agree with that."

"What is sitting out, boycotting, not playing the season -- what is that gonna accomplish really?"

An apparent newborn baby got dragged out to the crockpot of potential disease festering in Tulsa -- and like mother, the kid too is unmasked ... and surrounded by hordes of bodies.

This screenshot is from a video that was filmed and posted on social media Saturday outside of the BOK Center in downtown, where Trump is hosting a rally -- the first one he's held in months since the start of the pandemic, and which promises to be packed.

The person who posted this was documenting her day ahead of the actual rally later this evening, and one of the last posts on her IG story shows this woman with what looks like a recently born child. The woman who posted says 3 weeks old -- tagging it #BabiesForTrump.

It looks like she had a convo with the mother -- in her original story, the woman comes over and seems to mouth some words to her.

The imagery brings all the worry to life ... thousands of people are lined up outside the Tulsa venue where Donald Trump will hold his campaign rally Saturday night, and it's hard to spot masks in the crowd.

The venue itself will hold around 19,000 people ... all of whom will sit inside for hours waiting for the rally to begin. City officials say as many as 100,000 people may turn up for the event. As we reported, doctors believe just based on the people who get inside the venue ... 800 to 1,000 will contract the virus.

Trump's anti-mask message has clearly connected with his followers, despite the clear science that masks help prevent the spread of the virus.

Authorities are expecting protesters at the rally ... one's already been arrested for trespassing, despite the fact she was peacefully protesting. And, Trump has dog whistled on Twitter that some of the protesters -- or as he calls them "lowlifes" -- will be met with violence if they dare make their presence known.

It makes no sense, but it's very clear a number of Donald Trump supporters who will attend Saturday night's Tulsa campaign rally have unbridled contempt for masks that help prevent the spread of coronavirus, because this dude mocked the masks with a diaper to block what he claims are COVID-19 farts.

Brian Clothier is wearing an adult diaper covering his pants with the inscription, 'Scientists say [farts] spread the virus. I COVID my ass to stop the spread.'"

First things first ... there have been a few tabloid stories suggesting the virus can be spread by farting, but doctors and scientists are poo-pooing it. The CDC has said there's no evidence of such a spread.

Even if it were true, why the contempt for masks? It's interesting ... no one from Trump on down has ever said masks are ineffective. Trump's own task force has recommended masks when people go out in public. Trump is clearly politicizing masks -- making them look like a sign of weakness, which is insane -- but why are his followers buying into a fiction that will get them sick?

Predictions based on models suggest anywhere between 800 and 1,000 people who attend the rally will probably contract the virus. And, then those people go home and infect others ... some of who could well die.

The fact that people at the rally are showing a hostility toward doctors and scientists who have offered a way to keep them and their loved ones healthy is the most baffling development since the hoarding of toilet paper.

PGA Tour stud Nick Watney was forced to withdraw from this week's RBC Heritage tournament after testing positive for COVID-19 ... officials announced Friday.

Watney, who played in the first day of the South Carolina tourney on Thursday, woke up feeling ill Friday ... and, according to PGA Tour reps, tested positive shortly after.

FYI, the Tour tested EVERYBODY prior to the start of the week's tournament ... with all results -- including Watney's -- coming back negative.

The Tour says Watney will now have to undergo strict quarantine and isolation rules to eventually return to action ... and says it's taking precautions for everyone and everything that might have come in contact with Nick at this week's event.

"Nick will have the PGA TOUR’s full support throughout his self-isolation and recovery period under CDC guidelines," Tour officials said in a statement.

Watney played with Vaughn Taylor and Luke List in Thursday's opening round ... but neither golfer has withdrawn -- with both dudes still currently in the middle of their Friday rounds.