Celebrity Health

The massive U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Mercy has finally arrived ... just in time to help ease pressure on L.A. hospitals bracing for a tsunami of coronavirus cases.

Mercy docked in the L.A. Port Friday morning after making the trek from San Diego. It's quite a sight ... the ship's being flanked by a fleet of what appears to be U.S. Coast Guard boats. The scene offers one helluva juxtaposition ... L.A.'s desperate help to combat a global crisis with a picturesque backdrop of sunshine and palm trees.

Mercy, which left San Diego on Monday, will provide 1,000 hospital beds, extra doctors, nurses and other staff. The ship is expected to treat patients who do NOT have coronavirus ... freeing up resources such as ventilators and intensive care units at brick and mortar hospitals.

L.A. officials fear they have not seen the worse yet nearly 2 weeks after California Governor Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a "shelter-in-place" order. So far, there have been 21 deaths and more than 1,220 cases -- a 52% jump since Wednesday -- in L.A. County alone.

L.A.'s needs are so intense ... ABC shows "Grey's Anatomy" and "Station 19" are donating medical supplies -- such as hundreds of N95 masks and gowns -- to hospital staff working to combat the deadly outbreak.

This is disgusting, horrifying and possibly criminal during the coronavirus pandemic -- an Amazon delivery guy was caught spitting on a package and appearing to use his hand to smear it, as well.

TMZ's obtained video of the vile incident, which we're told occurred Thursday evening at a duplex residence in L.A.'s Hancock Park neighborhood.

Take a look ... the delivery guy sets the package down on the porch, leans over and spits ... then catches some of the spit and appears to wipe it on the package as more saliva falls out of his mouth. He then stands up as if nothing gross just happened, and takes a photo to verify the delivery.

Our sources say Amazon was contacted by a neighbor and a friend of the person whose package was spit on, and a customer service rep watched the footage with them.

We're told the rep gasped in horror and expressed shock that it was an older man, and not a young delivery worker. The rep confirmed the delivery guy was from a third party service and he was reported -- but said it's possible he might be back on the job today, anyway.

A neighbor posted the delivery confirmation photo -- with a strong note to Amazon -- and the image clearly shows liquid smeared on top of the box. Amazon is supposed to get back to the aggrieved party by Monday.

When we reached out about the video an Amazon spokesperson said, “This is clearly not representative of drivers who deliver for Amazon and the care they take for customers around the world every day. We are aggressively investigating to understand what may have occurred in this situation. If it truly was a malicious act by the driver, we will be sure he is held accountable, up through and including law enforcement action.”

As we reported ... a similarly disgusting incident went down this week at a grocery store in Pennsylvania, when a woman allegedly coughed all over the fresh produce, forcing the supermarket to throw it all out and do a major disinfecting.

Huge news out of Utah ... where the state Dept. of Health says it has "cleared" Jazz players and staff to leave isolation after 2 players tested positive for coronavirus.

Remember, Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were the first two NBA athletes to test positive for COVID-19 roughly 2 weeks ago, prompting the league to postpone the season indefinitely.

The rest of the Utah Jazz team -- including players, coaches and staff -- were all tested and ordered into isolation to try and reduce the chances of exposing anyone else.

But, Friday morning, the Utah Dept. of Health gave the green light to rejoin their families.

"As of today, Friday, March 27, all Utah Jazz players and staff have been cleared by the Utah Department of Health after completing their respective periods of isolation and quarantine following exposure to COVID-19."

"In accordance with CDC and NBA recommendations, all players and staff will continue to practice social distancing while limiting time outside of their homes to essential activities."

Betty White is safe and sound at home, and her legion of fans worried about her health can take comfort ... our national treasure is being careful.

Sources close to the Hollywood legend tell TMZ ... Betty's in good health as she continues to self-isolate at her Los Angeles estate. We're told she has very limited in-person interactions, and she's only coming in contact with people being equally cautious of the virus.

Our sources say 98-year-old Betty's essential errands, like groceries, are being taken care of for her so she never has to leave the house.

As you know ... Los Angeles is under a "stay-at-home order" where folks are only supposed to leave their homes for limited exercise and essential business. We're told Betty is spending all of her time inside and relaxing through her quarantine.

Exactly the news we all wanna hear.

Switzerland is lighting up the Matterhorn to send a powerful message to its people ... as the country's being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The iconic 14,600-foot mountain in the Alps was illuminated with a projection of the word "#hope" over the colors of the Swiss flag. The mountainside shines over the nearby ski resort town of Zermatt. They also projected "#stayhome" on the mountainside.

The new beacon comes as Switzerland has surpassed 10,000 cases of COVID-19 ... the fifth European nation to do so.

Zermatt says the light display is meant to "show solidarity with all the people who are currently suffering and are grateful to all those who are helping to overcome the crisis."

The Matterhorn's illumination was done by Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter and will appear every night from after sunset until 11 PM ... for the foreseeable future.

Cops in California will not be cutting speeders a break because of the highly-contagious coronavirus -- they're still pulling 'em over, but with some added protection.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the pandemic and state orders to stay home mean there's a lot less traffic on the freeways, but California Highway Patrol officers are still out there ready to bust people for speeding and other violations.

We're told the lack of cars on the road doesn't mean accidents go away, and it's still the CHP's job to keep residents safe ... which also means they're still cracking down on texting while driving and DUI's. There's no leniency at all there.

However, officers do want to be safe from COVID-19. Our sources say officers are wearing gloves while handing out tickets or interacting with motorists ... and trying to maintain social-distancing protocol as much as possible.

We broke the story ... the LAPD decided to stop nailing people with almost all parking violations in consideration of the city's coronavirus shutdown, and is also laying off of busting people for expired registrations, tags and driver's licenses.

We're told the CHP is taking this into consideration as well ... and it's willing to cut drivers some slack as long as expirations aren't years old.

More than anything, though ... our sources say "attitude is everything." CHP officers are using discretion and are willing to work with motorists as long as they're cooperative during this crazy time.

And, no -- cops aren't pulling people over just to ask where they're going to make sure they're following the "safer-at-home rules". Still, follow the rules -- not to avoid tickets, but for everyone's health.

The coronavirus pandemic is not stopping substance abuse centers from offering inpatient care ... but precautions are in place and one center is even testing for the virus.

Centers from across the country are all telling us the same thing ... they aren't turning folks away unless they have symptoms associated with coronavirus. They're also exercising their pandemic contingency plans, remaining cautious and have so far steered clear of the virus' spread.

Honchos at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, which has inpatient care at 5 residential sites across the country, tell TMZ ... they're screening anyone who comes in seeking help for substance abuse, and staff is monitoring patients' temperatures and checking for symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath.

If a patient shows symptoms common with COVID-19, they will be discharged with a bundle of resources and information to get the proper treatment for the virus.

Hazelden Betty Ford tells us they see this as fighting 2 diseases: addiction and COVID-19 ... and the vast majority of their patients are saying they feel safe despite the looming threat of coronavirus.

The residential sites are also making sure staff wash their hands, disinfect the clinics and maintain physical distancing. Auditorium lectures have been replaced with video streams, and a virtual outpatient program is launching soon.

Meanwhile, the main campus of Caron Treatment Centers in Wernersville, PA is running at close to max capacity with 150 in-house patients ... according to Dr. Joseph Garbely.

During recent screenings at Caron, we're told triage nurses isolated 3 patients who were coughing and doctors tested them for the virus, out of an abundance of caution, but the results all came back negative.

While awaiting results, we're told the patients were held in isolation and given iPads to stream group classes and work on group therapy. They were also monitored by nurses in full protective gear.

The main campus is also practicing CDC guidelines ... social distancing, hand washing and no sharing of toiletries. We're told doctors are using livestreaming to interact with patients.

A vile woman purposely coughed all over a grocery store's fresh produce, resulting in a huge waste of food and rotten day for its employees ... and the authorities are pursuing charges.

According to the co-owner of Gerrity's Supermarkets, Joe Fasula ... the woman -- who he calls a "chronic problem in the community" -- entered the store in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania Wednesday afternoon and began hacking on all the fruit and veggies ... along with a small section of the bakery and meat case.

Fasula believes the woman did this as a "very twisted prank" amid the coronavirus pandemic, but she left the store no choice but to throw out all the food she came in contact with ... for obvious health and safety reasons.

The owner believed the lady's sick stunt cost the store about $35,000 worth of product, not to mention forcing workers to clean and disinfect everything along with the health inspector ... and possible COVID-19 exposure to customers and at least 15 employees.

Fasula says the silver lining is the Gerrity's team was able to remove the terrible prankster quickly and contacted police. He says the case is with the District Attorney's Office ... and it's pursuing "numerous charges."

Federal law enforcement recently announced it's considering terrorism charges for anyone purposely spreading COVID-19 ... it's unclear if this disgusting woman has coronavirus, though.

Laura Wasser has some sage advice for co-parents during these days of quarantining -- now's not the time to be dumb or difficult ... and if you are, it might cost you later.

The "Disso Queen" understands the challenges of co-parenting can be compounded during the coronavirus pandemic, so she's urging moms and dads to be reasonable and adaptable until things calm down ... for the good of the kids, of course.

Laura says trust between co-parents is critical right now, not only for normal custody reasons ... but to make sure neither the parent or the child is disobeying social-distancing guidelines that could put extended, or especially elderly, family members at risk.

There's also the issue of schooling. As you know, schools across the country are shut down or have gone to virtual classrooms to comply with "stay-at-home" orders ... so Wasser says it's important for co-parents to hammer out the best game plan for their kids to deal with that too.

So, what should a parent do if the other's not being a team player? Laura has a good answer ... and a pretty stark warning for any co-parent considering playing hardball.

WWE superstar Roman Reigns has reportedly pulled out of WrestleMania 36 -- and it's all over serious health concerns connected to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 34-year-old was supposed to wrestle Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship during the April 4 and 5 event -- but due to his recent cancer battle, he ultimately decided it was too risky, according to ProWrestlingSheet.

Reigns told WWE he's immunocompromised from the cancer fight -- and didn't feel comfortable performing with the looming threat of COVID-19.

FYI, Reigns -- real name Leati "Joe" Anoaʻi -- was first diagnosed with leukemia back in 2007 and beat it. But, it reared its ugly head again in 2018.

Reigns returned to WWE in early 2019 and he's been on fire ever since.

WWE has taken drastic measures to protect the wrestlers at WrestleMania -- which will take place April 4 and 5 at the WWE Performance Center in Florida without fans in the building.

R. Kelly's latest pitch to be released pending his trial in Illinois federal court centers on his fear -- like most Americans - of coming down with COVID-19.

The disgraced singer's attorney, Steven Greenberg, filed a motion Thursday in which he refers to coronavirus spreading around the world, and the health risks he believes he's facing while penned up in Chicago MCC. "No matter what steps they take the sanitation will be substandard, the risk of an internal pandemic at the MCC is great."

Kelly says social-distancing is near impossible in the jail, soap is only available to inmates who can afford to buy it from the commissary -- and don't mention hand sanitizer. He claims there's just ONE large bottle on the visiting floor ... but it is labeled, "STAFF ONLY."

He says forcing anyone to remain under these conditions is "tantamount to making them drink poison."

Kelly wants to be released on bond, and says he's willing to wear electronic monitoring -- although he notes it's not really necessary, because during the current pandemic he's a "low risk" to go outside at all.

As for where he'd live -- Kelly says he'd shack up with his last remaining girlfriend, Joycelyn Savage, at an apartment complex in Chicago.

TMZ broke the story ... Kelly's legal team was blocked from visiting him in prison last week and it was all due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Kelly's lawyers had wanted to check on his health while also discussing strategy, given his ever-growing legal mess.

In the new docs, Kelly points out that keeping his attorneys and other visitors from entering doesn't solve the problem of possible exposure ... because there's always new inmates entering.

As we reported ... Kelly -- currently behind bars in Illinois as he awaits his trial -- recently got slapped with a slew of new charges by federal prosecutors in NY. The new indictment is related to 2 new alleged victims, one of whom was under 18 when she claimed she had sex with the singer in 2015.

Evangeline Lilly's apologizing for the "insensitivity" she showed toward the very serious coronavirus crisis facing the world, saying she was trying to infuse "calm into the hysteria" ... but she was scared too.

The actress sent out her sorries on Instagram Thursday, saying she's realized her original message suggesting she was against self-quarantining and subsequent silence since then "has sent a dismissive, arrogant and cryptic message" ... and she seems to want everyone to know she's on their same page now.

Lilly says she's been social distancing where she lives since March 18 and doing her part to "flatten the curve" by staying home with her family.

She suggests when she first stated she valued freedom over life and was making the choice to not self-quarantine with her kids ... she didn't grasp the gravity of the situation.

Evangeline says she began to change her mind when precautionary directives changed and decided to follow the rules.

Now, she says she's realized her original message was hurtful to people who've been greatly impacted by the suffering COVID-19 has brought ... and sends her "direct and special apologies" to them.

Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin came up with a creative way to help those fighting the coronavirus pandemic -- by turning baseball jerseys into masks and gowns!!

Rubin's Fanatics company -- which makes official MLB unis -- has halted all jersey production and instead, they're using the materials for the jerseys to make essential products for frontline workers in Pennsylvania.

Rubin said the PA governor hit him up asking for help ... and the dude delivered, saying he's planning to make 1 million masks and gowns to help Pennsylvania and eventually more states in need.

The finished product is actually pretty dope ... with the Phillies and Yankees pinstripes clearly recognizable in a new form.

"Thanks to @MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred for not only agreeing to halting production of MLB jerseys, but also doing everything possible to make this happen as quickly as possible!!" Rubin tweeted.

"And thanks to our incredible associates who raised their hands and wanted to be part of the effort to help the frontline heroes in this war stem the spread of the virus!!"

Dr. Anthony Fauci is moving further into the good graces of Americans looking for guidance amid the coronavirus pandemic ... his mug is now on a super-popular donut.

Here's the deal ... a bakery in upstate New York is selling new donuts with Dr. Fauci's face on them, and the sweet treats are flying off the shelves!!!

Donuts Delite in Rochester started selling the donuts with Dr. Fauci's face earlier this week, and the bakery says they've already sold hundreds of 'em.

Dr. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert who has become a fixture in daily TV briefings on the virus, is gonna like the delivery options too ... because the bakery is offering curbside pickup, takeout and contact-less delivery.

The Dr. Fauci donut is a plain donut with frosting and if you want, you can it get it with filling. His face is printed on wafer-thin edible paper and placed upon a layer of buttercream frosting. Yum!!!

Dr. Fauci's not only helping save lives with his expertise, he's becoming a rising star in pop culture ... and he just did a fascinating Q&A with Steph Curry, which drew rave reviews from Barack Obama.

Quick, someone get a dozen Dr. Fauci donuts to our junk-food eatin' President!!!

Maybe these will save the economy!!!