Health

Ezekiel Elliott says he's feeling good after catching coronavirus earlier this month -- and expects to be cleared to workout again soon.

The NFL superstar appeared on a Twitch feed with Scooter Magruder on Wednesday and took questions from fans ... obviously, one of the pressing topics is Zeke's health!

Remember, the 24-year-old superstar was one of several Cowboys and Houston Texans players to test positive recently -- and now he's finally speaking out.

"I'm feeling good," Zeke said ... "I would say I had 1 or 2 days where I felt symptoms -- and even then it wasn't too bad."

"I had a cough and a little shortness of breath. Now I feel good, I feel normal."

Zeke says he still hasn't been cleared to work out -- "I gotta wait. I could've went and got re-tested this week. But, I decided it wouldn't hurt to wait another week and just give myself more time to rest up."

"But, I feel good."

There was a lot more from Zeke I the interview.

Zeke on if there will be an NFL season in 2020 ...

"I don't know. I just feel like there's a lot of moving parts that have to be figured out. I just don't know how they can keep the players healthy."

"You got to put the health of the players first. It's not even so much I would say the players' health because I mean I got corona and it didn't really affect me much but a lot of people have kids, they may have kids with asthma, they may have newborn babies, their parents or grandparents may live with them. We have to find a way just to make sure the players and their families and the coaches also and their families aren't put at risk. "

Zeke on the possibility of NFL games without live fans ...

PGA star Brooks Koepka has elected to back out of the Travelers Championship tournament this week ... after his caddie tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ricky Elliott reportedly tested positive Wednesday morning at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut ... just 48 hours after testing negative for the virus.

"I’m going to pull out to protect everybody else. I think it’s the right thing to do." Koepka -- the #4-ranked golfer in the world -- said.

"I don’t want to risk anyone’s life if they have respiratory issues or underlying conditions. The only way this Tour can continue is if guys do this sort of thing and be proactive about it."

Koepka had been isolating at a rented home in Connecticut ... and may leave the area if his GF Jena Sims and personal chef test positive as well.

The New York City Marathon -- the largest marathon in the world -- has been canceled ... all because of COVID-19.

The 2020 NYC Marathon was scheduled for Nov. 1 -- but event organizers, along with the Mayor's Office, decided to call it off because it's just too risky.

Organizers are citing "coronavirus-related health and safety concerns for runners, spectators, volunteers, staff, and the many partners and communities that support the event."

Mayor Bill de Blasio says he thinks it's the best decision for everyone involved.

"While the marathon is an iconic and beloved event in our city, I applaud New York Road Runners for putting the health and safety of both spectators and runners first."

He added, "We look forward to hosting the 50th running of the marathon in November of 2021."

Runners who already registered will have the option to receive a full refund of their entry fee or a guaranteed entry in either 2021, 2022, or 2023.

Event organizers say the 2020 NYC Marathon was supposed to be the 50th running of the event "which began in 1970 and has grown to become the world’s largest marathon with 53,640 finishers in 2019."

New York is the latest city to shut down their Marathon over the Coronavirus pandemic -- following Boston, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

PLAY BALL!!!!

The MLB season is FINALLY set to begin next month ... with the owners and players agreeing to terms for a 60-game season on Tuesday.

The announcement comes after MONTHS of back and forth between both sides ... with the players demanding the owners stick to their word and pay the prorated salaries agreed upon in March.

It's nothing short of a miracle, considering MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said just last week he was "not confident" a season would happen.

The players have agreed to start training camp during the first week of July ... and games will follow with Opening Day on either July 23 or 24.

"Major League Baseball is thrilled to announce that the 2020 season is on the horizon," Manfred said in the league's official statement.

"We have provided the Players Association with a schedule to play 60 games and are excited to provide our great fans with Baseball again soon."

Worth noting, the Philadelphia Phillies just announced multiple cases of coronavirus after several players started training at the team facility in Florida ... so it'll be interesting to see what happens when more people enter the picture.

The last domino to fall -- an agreement on health and safety protocols, and ESPN's Karl Ravech says both sides have worked things out.

Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic -- one of the best players in the NBA -- has tested positive for the coronavirus in Serbia.

The 25-year-old center was set to make the trip back to the United States to prepare for the restart of the season ... but the positive test has delayed his plans, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jokic has been asymptomatic since getting his results last week, Woj says ... and he's expected to be cleared to travel back to the States within the next week.

As we previously reported, the NBA is set to complete the 2020 season in Orlando at Disney World next month ... with players and team members quarantining at several resorts.

Players will be able to wear "smart" rings that can detect early symptoms of the coronavirus ... and the league has implemented other safety precautions to keep everyone safe.

Of course, Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were the first NBA players to test positive for the virus in March ... which brought the season to a screeching halt.

It was business as usual for Tom Brady on Tuesday ... the GOAT continued workouts with his new teammates -- this despite a COVID-19 outbreak on the Bucs roster.

TB12 got in the sweat sesh with about two dozen Tampa Bay players down at Berkeley Preparatory School in Florida for around two hours ... according to the Tampa Bay Times.

And, as you can see in a pic from the workout, TB12 was all smiles ... even though some of his new squadmates (presumably the ones NOT at the workout) have recently contracted coronavirus.

Over the past week, the Bucs confirmed several players and coaches tested positive for COVID-19 ... and the NFL warned teams to be careful about going through private workouts amid recent surges in positive cases.

Unclear what social distancing steps Brady and the Bucs took to limit possible exposure at their Tuesday practice ... but what we do know is Tom is at least very aware of the pandemic.

Remember, Brady was booted from working out at a closed public park at the beginning of coronavirus lockdowns ... and he's since helped donate SERIOUS cash to those affected by COVID-19 with his famous All-In Challenge.

As for how the Tuesday work went, regardless ... Brady posted about the effort on social media afterward, talking all about his sweat-soaked shirt.

The Arizona church hosting President Trump's Tuesday rally overplayed its hand by claiming it's got tech to zap away COVID-19 ... so say the owners of that technology.

Tim Bender -- the Chief Strategy Officer of CleanAir EXP, which sold the fancy air purification system to Dream City Church -- tells TMZ, the dudes who said they'd be 'rona-proof come Tuesday went overboard, and flat-out exaggerated about CleanAir's product.

He says that while their air purifiers theoretically can't hurt in helping fend off COVID-19 molecules, it actually hasn't quite been specifically tested to combat the disease.

What it has gone up against in a lab is 19's ugly cousin, COVID-229E ... which is said to be a surrogate of the big baddie, with a similar protein structure. Bender says in testing, ionized particles churned out via his system "neutralize" COVID-229E.

BTW, Bender tells us he would love to get in touch with the CDC to see if his air system can do some good on a larger scale -- but just hasn't been able to get in touch. He says he's hoping when Trump comes to town and hears all the buzz, it might help him make a CDC connect.

Sounds interesting, and maybe it will kick COVID-19's ass in testing -- but until then, CleanAir isn't trying to get ahead of itself. Unfortunately, one of its most recent customers, the Dream City Church, already has.

A Bay Area woman took out her social distancing frustration on a baby -- coughing and spitting into the kid's stroller ... all because she felt the mother and child were too close.

This sickening incident went down in San Jose, CA -- where an older white woman was seen entering a Yogurtland shop last Friday ... and was soon followed by a mother and her 1-year-old boy, who was in his stroller.

At one point, and seemingly out of nowhere, the older lady approached the mother and started coughing right onto the kid. The mother immediately tried to cover up her son.

Goes without saying ... this is straight-up not safe, and about as mean as you can get.

The woman walked out of the building as if nothing happened at all, but something criminal definitely DID happen ... so say cops. San Jose PD says it's on the lookout for the cougher, and are asking for the public's help to identify her.

D.L. Hughley's medical scare and subsequent positive COVID-19 test is triggering a major health inspection for the comedy club where he was performing.

A spokesperson for Nashville's Metro Public Health Department tells TMZ ... it's conducting a disease investigation of staff and customers in attendance Friday night at Zanies Comedy Club, where D.L. collapsed.

We're told the health department plans to conduct contact tracing ... getting in touch with everyone who was in the club to get them tested -- and ditto for anyone who had close contact with Hughley.

We're told everyone will be instructed to self-isolate for 14 days while their health is monitored daily by the disease investigators.

On top of that, we're told the Health Dept. has been in touch with Zanies since learning of D.L.'s positive coronavirus test to provide the club with guidance on cleaning and sanitizing.

We're told Director of Health Dr. Michael Caldwell has agreed to allow Zanies -- which has been temporarily closed since learning of Hughley's diagnosis -- to reopen Thursday after the venue has been thoroughly cleaned. An employee tells us the club already had a cleaning company come Sunday and wash the place top to bottom.

There's another catch too ... Zanies must comply with Public Health Emergency Orders for entertainment venues, including having the performer 15-feet away from the audience. In the video, it didn't look like D.L. had this distance on Friday night.

BTW, when the comedy resumes Thursday, Rob Schneider will take the stage for the first of 4 nights in a row.

So, Zanies will be open for laughs ... just at a distance.

Novak Djokovic is under fire for partying topless just days before his tennis tourney had a small coronavirus outbreak ... with one of Joker's peers calling the whole thing a "poor example."

Here's the deal ... the world's #1 ranked tennis player hosted a tournament in Croatia over the weekend but it was canceled before the final match because two of the tournament's stars contracted COVID-19.

As it turns out, one of the two guys who tested positive -- Grigor Dimitrov -- had been partying with Djokovic and several other famous tennis players at a Croatian hot spot just days before.

Check out video of the dudes posted to social media last week ... the men were dancing shirtless and raging their faces off -- with no masks or social distancing in sight.

But, when Dimitrov and another competitor, Borna Coric, tested positive ... the criticism for their big night out started rolling in.

Tennis stars all over bashed Djokovic for even trying to hold the tournament during a pandemic ... with Dan Evans going off over the clubbing in particular.

"Put it this way, I don’t think you should be having a players’ party and then dancing all over each other," Evans said. "He should feel some responsibility in his event and how it’s transpired."

Nick Kyrgios also chimed in on the event on Twitter on Monday, calling it a "boneheaded decision" to go forward with the tournament in the first place.

For his part, Djokovic has yet to release a statement on the backlash ... and is reportedly awaiting results of his own coronavirus test.

Djokovic made headlines at the beginning of the pandemic when he said he's against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.