Celebrity Health

Tom Cruise might want to look in the mirror when it comes to making sure everyone on set is COVID safe -- especially if he sticks with what appears to be his go-to face covering.

The mask Tom's wearing in almost all the pics from various 'Mission: Impossible 7' sets is NOT recommended by the CDC ... and the agency actually warned against wearing any mask with valves like the one TC's rocking.

The mask, from Jupiter Gear, features a carbon filter and breathing valves ... and it retails for $14.99 a pop.

The manufacturer says the mask is meant to mostly be worn during physical activity, with the valves designed to "release hot, humid exhaled breath quickly." In other words, there's still a good chance respiratory droplets are escaping ... and that's dangerous with this airborne coronavirus."

In fact, the CDC spells it out, warning against masks with valves because ... "this type of mask may not prevent you from spreading COVID-19 to others. The hole in the material may allow your respiratory droplets to escape and reach others."

As you know ... Tom blew a gasket over film crew members breaking COVID protocols by standing too close together on set, and promised to fire them if it happens again.

Now, just as ineffective as Tom's mask -- and probably worse -- is what Tom's costar Hayley Atwell was seen doing on set in Rome. She's one of those folks who wear their mask under their nose which is also highly ineffective in stopping moisture droplets.

Here's Nelson Agholor proving NFL players are still REALLY, REALLY freakin' tough ...

The Las Vegas Raiders receiver gruesomely dislocated his finger mid-game against the Chargers on Thursday ... but the dude barely missed any time over the gnarly injury!!

It all went down in the 3rd quarter of Las Vegas' loss to Los Angeles ... when Agholor dropped a pass and his hands came crashing down to the grass.

You can see in video of the incident, his whole body weight landed on his pinky ... and it looked like the digit snapped in half!!!

Agholor immediately knew something was wrong ... he waved his jacked-up finger to his sideline -- and trainers tended to him right away.

The craziest part about it all, though? HE RETURNED AFTER JUST ONE PLAY!!!

In fact, Agholor went on to record a couple more catches after trainers popped his finger back in place ... and the dude finished the night with a total of 49 receiving yards!

The world can now see Chadwick Boseman's last performance before he died ... and the role is sure to strike a high note, especially if you're into jazz.

The late actor starred in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," which premieres Friday on Netflix. Chadwick plays a trumpeter named Levee in an early 20th-century jazz band.

The movie's based on August Wilson's 1982 play of the same name ... and Denzel Washington is one of the producers.

As you know ... Chadwick died back in August following a 4-year battle with colon cancer. He was only 43 years old.

The deeply emotional response to Chadwick's sudden and recent death is fueling speculation he might receive a posthumous Oscar for his performance in 'Black Bottom.'

Phew! That's the operative word after "Shameless" had to deal with a massive COVID-19 outbreak scare following tons of false-positive results on set ... TMZ has learned.

Production sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... the set went into full panic mode after recent COVID tests revealed 18 positive results. We're told production feared it had a massive outbreak on its hands.

Our sources say there was a lab screw up ... and bottom line, those 18 positive results were not positive at all. This does not appear to be a flaw in the testing method ... we're told it was a lab error.

It's also unclear if production shut down to deal with what was initially thought to be an outbreak ... which our sources say went down in the last week. The show recently shot large scenes with as many as 200 extras.

We're told they had also been shooting on location across various parts of L.A. as well as on the Warner Bros. lot.

When production resumed, the show's executive producer, John Wells, revealed the pandemic would be weaved into the 11th and final season of the hit Showtime series.

More great news regarding the recovery of University of Florida basketball star Keyontae Johnson who continues to make great progress less than a week after he collapsed on the court.

But, he's awake and was reportedly talking with friends and family members earlier this week.

Remember, Johnson was placed into a medically induced coma after the incident during Saturday's Florida vs. Florida State game in Tallahassee.

Now, UF athletic director Scott Stricklin has another update ... saying, "Keyontae Johnson continues to show truly encouraging signs of progress as he undergoes tests and further evaluation at UF Health."

"He and his family have again expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of love, prayers and well-wishes."

Stricklin also announced the school has postponed the team's next 3 scheduled basketball games in the wake of Keyontae's situation.

"This has been an emotionally taxing time for Keyontae's family, friends and teammates," Stricklin said.

"Our hope is that everyone impacted will take an opportunity to process those emotions and regroup ahead of the start of the new year."

Scott Van Pelt -- one of the best sportscasters on the planet -- has been diagnosed with COVID ... and his wildly entertaining ESPN show is now on pause indefinitely because of it.

The 54-year-old made the announcement Thursday ... saying he can't smell or taste anything.

Fortunately, SVP said he has no fever, and otherwise feels "fine."

"Won't be doing shows for a bit after a positive Covid-19 test," Van Pelt said ... "I will hunker down and hopefully can be back at it before too long."

Van Pelt -- a longtime ESPN talent -- took over the midnight edition of "Sportscenter" a few years ago ... and his personal touches on the show have made it must-see, late-night TV.

Specifically, Van Pelt's "One Big Thing" and "Bad Beats" segments have become viral sensations on a weekly basis.

People who are getting the coronavirus vaccine don't know what's coming next -- that 2nd shot could hit like a ton of bricks, according to a guy who volunteered for Pfizer's study.

Eric Gross joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and laid out his experience getting both doses of the vaccine during Pfizer's clinical trials. He said the first injection made his arm a little sore -- which we've heard from others this week -- but he says the 2nd shot is a whole different ballgame.

In Eric's experience, it left him feeling sicker than he's ever felt in his life, although not for too long. He has an analogy for his body's reaction -- think sucker punch in the face. Watch the vid, it's a great explanation.

As you know ... healthcare workers in America started getting the first round of vaccinations Monday and folks like Sandra Lindsay, the intensive care nurse who got the first shot in New York, told us so far, so good ... as far as any reactions or side effects.

Eric also talked to us about the story TMZ broke -- that volunteers who got the placebo during the trial pressured Pfizer to let them get the real deal.

Membership has its benefits -- people who participated in Pfizer's vaccine trial, but only got the placebo, now have the chance to get the real vaccine earlier ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Pfizer notified study participants earlier this week about the shift in policy -- giving people who got the placebo the chance to get the shot as early as Friday.

We're told some study participants, who got the placebo, were upset they had put their lives on the line, but were getting no benefit. In fact, Pfizer says 162 placebo patients ended up later coming down with COVID-19. By comparison ... of the participants who got the vaccine, only 8 got infected later.

Pfizer emailed instructions this week to the study group about when they can get the vaccine. As with the general public, healthcare workers and nursing home residents will go first ... as soon as Friday.

Others will get the opportunity in January or February ... about 6 months after they got their second placebo shot.

We're told no one during the study was told whether they'd gotten the placebo or the vaccine -- but they all figured it out pretty easily. Those who got the vaccine felt ill -- a normal reaction to the shot -- while placebo patients were fine.

NHL star Henrik Lundqvist will NOT be suiting up for the Washington Capitals this season ... with the goalie revealing he's battling a heart condition that will prevent him from playing.

"It breaks my heart (literally) to share this news: I will not be joining the Capitals this upcoming season," Lundqvist said Thursday.

"After many weeks of tests and conversations with specialists around the country, it's been determined that a heart condition will prevent me from taking the ice."

"Together, we have decided that the risk of playing before remedying my condition is too high, so I will spend the coming months figuring out the best course of action."

Lundqvist -- who joined the Caps on a 1-year deal in October after playing with the New York Rangers from 2005-20 -- said he was excited for his fresh start in D.C. ... but admits "we knew there was only one way to go from here" after his most recent test results.

"I will take the next few weeks to be with my family and I'll be back to share the next steps."

The Caps also released a statement Thursday ... saying, "The Washington Capitals are supportive of Henrik's decision to step away from hockey at this time due to his heart condition."

"Our players' health is of the utmost importance. And we stand behind Henrik's decision."

"We want to wish him and his family all the best moving forward."

Tom Cruise isn't always a super stickler for COVID protocols -- not based on some on-set pics of him with his 'Mission: Impossible 7' costar.

'M.I. 7' has been filming for months all over Europe, and we found these images from October of Tom and Hayley Atwell shooting in Rome. In one of them, Tom is wearing a face mask and talking to Hayley, who's also got a mask on, but she's not up to CDC snuff. You can see hers is down below her nose, and as we all know by now ... that does not protect people from droplets that can transmit the virus.

Hayley's showing the same bad form in another shot where Tom doesn't have one on at all -- although it's possible he was about to shoot a scene.

As you know, Tom went nuclear on his crew recently while filming on a studio lot in England. He was pissed off at 2 crew members for breaking COVID protocols, standing less than 6 feet apart to look at a monitor.

A UPS driver is now out of a job after a customer claimed she caught him spitting on a package on her doorstep -- but whether he actually hocked one or not is up for debate.

This incident went down last Thursday at the home of Ann Patton in Ocala, FL -- where the homeowner says she saw something on a surveillance camera that led her to believe a bitter UPS driver got petty revenge by spitting on one of her packages.

UPS was apparently scheduled to come by that day and pick up a separate package that was supposed to be ready for the driver ... but wasn't. Patton tells us she was never notified of any UPS pickup, so that's why nothing was left out.

Anyway, Patton claims when the driver arrived and realized what he'd been sent there to get was nowhere to be found ... he tried getting back at them by picking up an Amazon package that'd been left earlier in the day and spitting on it ... at least that's what happened in Patton's eyes, who caught the alleged spitting on video.

Of course, the Pattons freaked and called up UPS in a rage ... saying they were told the driver would be canned, but claim the company refused to replace their Amazon package. Naturally, there's a lot to be concerned about if it spat on ... COVID comes to mind.

Now, as for UPS ... they have a slightly different version of events. The company tells us that, yes, they did fire the guy -- who was a temporary holiday driver -- but only did so out of an abundance of caution, because in their eyes ... it's not clear if he spit or not.

Decide for yourself ... UPS said it looked like their dude mistakenly thought it was the package he was there to pick up and was simply following protocol by blowing on the label to clean it off so he could apply the UPS label. They think when he realized it was the wrong package, he just left.

People are losing it 9 months into the pandemic -- no other way to look at it when folks are tearing up food displays in grocery stores, and rollerblading on the interstates in the buff.

Ya gotta sees these videos of COVID cabin fever to the max ... we'll start in Medford, Oregon, where a man threw a bunch of food and drinks all over a supermarket before storming out the front door.

The guy started slinging 2 liters of soda before tossing chips, and then getting more efficient by just toppling the whole display. His strut afterward shows he's pretty proud he made his point ... whatever the hell it was.

Meanwhile, commuters in Columbus, Ohio drove past a strange sight on the interstate ... a rollerblader wearing nothing more than some panda headgear.

The naked rollerblader's giving the cars behind him a full moon, and it appears he's wielding a golf club. That's not a euphemism ... we mean an actual club.

NY Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has tested positive for coronavirus -- forcing the team to cancel Thursday practice.

54-year-old Garrett -- former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys -- will not call plays for the Giants when they take on the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, so he can focus on his recovery, the team announced.

Instead, Giants tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens -- the former Cleveland Browns head coach -- will take over the playcalling duties this weekend against his former team.

The Giants say they do NOT believe there are other high-risk contacts who may have contracted the virus from Garrett because the team did not meet on either Monday or Tuesday due to "the league's most updated protocols."

"At this point, there appear to be no high risk close contacts. We are awaiting confirmation from the league."

Drew Brees ain't out of the woods yet -- the QB still has "a ways to go" before he'll return to the field after breaking 11 ribs and suffering a punctured lung.

... so says New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton who told reporters the plan is to continue to be patient with Drew to make sure he can properly heal up.

41-year-old Brees has already missed 4 games due to the injuries -- which he reportedly suffered over the course of 2 games, Week 9 against the Bucs and Week 10 against the 49ers.

Payton was asked Wednesday if there was a chance Brees would be able to play on Sunday's Week 15 matchup against the Chiefs ... but that's seemingly out of the question.

"He's got a ways to go still, and he's someone we're not gonna just hurry back and just put him in the game," Payton said.

"I think the significance of the injuries are such that you've gotta make sure he can function and feel confident."

The good news ... Brees says he's making significant progress and hopes to be back soon.

"Each week I feel better," Brees told Cox Sports Television on Sunday night.

"I obviously have a plan in place as to the benchmarks that I need to hit in order to get to where I know that I can play and play effectively for this team. And all I can say is I'm close."

"There's a recovery element. There's a strength element. And I'll know when that time comes."

Indianapolis Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez says he couldn't be happier to return to practice on Wednesday ... describing the "crazy roller coaster" he's experienced since his recent cancer diagnosis.

As we previously reported, 26-year-old Sanchez underwent surgery for a cancerous tumor earlier this month ... days after feeling "kinda weird" during practice on Nov. 25.

Sanchez says he notified team staffers about feeling off ... and they instructed him to get checked out with an MRI and ultrasound.

That's when Sanchez got the news -- he has cancer.

"It's one of those things that you just never think is gonna happen to you. I never thought it was gonna happen to me either," Sanchez told reporters ... "Because I'm young, and when you're young you think you can do anything and you're going to be fine for a long time."

The crazy part?? Sanchez still got out on the field for Indy's next game against the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 29 ... saying his situation couldn't get any worse and he didn't want to put his team in a bad situation.

"I wasn't about to do that to my team. It's all about the team, you know?" Sanchez said.

Sanchez made his return to the team this week ... and he said he's thankful for the team's support throughout his journey.

"I'm just so grateful to be here with you guys and it's amazing to be back."

Sanchez says he's heard from all his idols -- including leukemia survivor Chuck Pagano -- throughout his recovery ... and he's hoping for the best.

Word to the wise ... intentionally coughing into a crowded elevator can result in bodily harm -- as proven in this surveillance footage of said cougher catching an ass-whooping.

This video's crazy ... the pandemonium started when a man tried to get into an elevator car that already had 3 passengers. Someone inside appeared to signal to the fourth guy to wait for another ride ... 'cause in a pandemic, three's definitely a crowd.

He initially seemed okay with waiting, but as the doors began to close ... he hopped onboard, and tempers started to flare. The 4th wheel guy started getting the business, verbally, from another passenger -- but decided to respond by pulling down his face mask and intentionally coughing.

That's what ya call the last straw, and as soon as the elevator doors opened again ... the brawl was on!!! The cougher got beat down, and dragged out of the elevator ... where he was forced to wait for another one to arrive.

Probably what he should have done in the first place.