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There's growing fear endangered mountain gorillas -- our closest relatives in the animal kingdom -- could contract COVID-19, and it's triggered a lockdown of sorts.

On the heels of a Bronx Zoo tiger testing positive for the coronavirus -- researches in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are concerned the great apes in that area could suffer the same fate. They've put an immediate halt on all tourism related to encounters with the gorillas.

Sanctuaries for other apes, like orangutans, have also closed to the public ... according to the BBC. The concern is the virus potentially wiping out an endangered species -- infections disease is one of the top 3 threats to some great apes.

Consider this ... research has shown chimps can contract the common cold virus, and ebola is believed to have killed THOUSANDS of chimps and gorillas in Africa during that outbreak.

Researches say they're not sure if the virus has infected mountain gorillas ... they haven't seen any evidence yet. But, a leading veterinary doctor for Africa's mountain gorillas told the BBC the animals are susceptible to the same pathogens as us, so "we know that they can develop respiratory illness."

Chris Cuomo is getting up close and personal about his battle with COVID-19 -- and the reason he's so intimate is because he wants folks to know they can fight and win.

The CNN anchor is still working and aired his x-ray Monday night during his show ... and Dr. Sanjay Gupta joined him to evaluate the state of Chris' lungs. Gupta says there's definite signs of inflammatory fluid build-up ... a tell-tale sign of coronavirus.

Chris passionately explained how he's doing everything he can at home to avoid going to the hospital and adding one more patient to an already-flooded and overworked healthcare system in crisis at the moment. Sounds like what he's doing -- on his doctor's advice -- might well be working.

He told viewers he's constantly moving -- getting up, laying on his side, stretching, talking, whatever -- to keep the virus on its toes, 'cause he says it's banking on people becoming sedentary and passive as it sets up shop in the body ... particularly in the chest.

The notorious Los Angeles smog is nowhere insight, and the city's enjoying its longest stretch of good air quality in at least 40 years -- but of course, the reason for that sucks.

The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdown of most commerce and travel across the country has totally changed everyone's way of life, but according to the March 2020 air quality index compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency ... L.A.'s air is reaping massive benefits.

The chart shows Angelenos experienced the cleanest air recorded last month since at least 1995, but the EPA's data actually goes back to 1980 ... and there hasn't been a longer span of "good" air days since then either.

Cody Hill, a California energy company exec, estimates it goes back even further, saying March 2020 may well have been “one of the best months at least since the 1940s, when there was huge migration as we ramped up aircraft production in the L.A. basin to fight WW2."

Of course, the main reason for the improved air quality is the lack of traffic emissions that normally get pumped into the air during morning and evening rush hours ... back in the pre-COVID-19 days. Now that a major chunk of L.A. residents are hunkered down at home and off the roads, there's way less pollution ... and no more smog.

In fact, on March 18 after the state put safer-at-home orders in place, L.A.’s infamous rush-hour traffic was moving 71 percent faster than it usually does on a Wednesday afternoon ... and that trend's expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

So, the EPA's air quality numbers for L.A. in April should be off the charts. Like we said ... a true Hollywood silver lining.

People say the coronavirus pandemic has had a seismic impact on our way of life -- and they're 1,000% right ... because seismologists are noticing how damn quiet it's gotten.

A geologist and seismologist named Thomas Lecocq, who works at an observatory in Brussels, Belgium, has noted the change in the vibrations he and his colleagues were recording from the Earth's surface -- saying they've reduced significantly since mid-March.

Of course, that's when most everyone else outside of China -- which was already grappling with the outbreak since at least February, if not sooner -- started implementing stay-at-home orders, quarantining guidelines, and in some cases ... nationwide mandatory lockdowns.

The Belgium study goes on to say vibrations in that immediate area caused by human activity has fallen by at least a third in recent weeks, which means people aren't driving on the roads, walking about ... or cranking their machines nearly as much as they normally do.

Needless to say, that same finding is probably being seen around other parts of the world, including here in the U.S., where we're always zooming around, especially on the coasts.

It's fascinating -- the seismologists in Brussels say the phenomenon is actually helping them pay more close attention to important stuff ... like incoming earthquakes, exact aftershock locations, oceanic noise and tectonic plate shifts they usually couldn't easily detect.

Georgia's Governor apparently lives under a rock, but crawled out long enough to make a shocking statement -- that he just found out people showing no symptoms can still spread COVID-19.

No joke ... Gov. Brian Kemp, who on Wednesday finally issued a stay-at-home order for Georgia, admitted he had just learned in the last 24 hours the virus could be spread by asymptomatic people.

We should probably say he "claimed" that because it seems impossible he, or someone on his staff, could have avoided information that's been widely known and disseminated for weeks.

Clearly, Kemp hasn't been listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci during the daily White House briefings with President Trump ... with whom Kemp is reportedly pretty tight.

Safe to say, Kemp would NOT be one of the governors Pete Buttigieg is hailing for showing leadership in a time of crisis.

Just ONE Kennedy Space Center employee testing positive for COVID-19 requires a massive and pricey operation to sanitize every inch of the complex.

According to federal docs, obtained by TMZ ... just under $191k in taxpayer dough is being paid to several companies contracted to sterilize the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

One firm, LL & JP, received a total of $145,367 for cleaning "up to CDC standards for suspected or cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019" at Stennis ... which is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility.

According to the docs, the money came in 2 rounds -- first on March 18 for $80,986 and then again March 27 for $64,381. The second round came after 3 Stennis employees tested positive for the virus earlier this week.

Meanwhile, over at the legendary Kennedy Space Center, a firm called Brevard Achievement Center received $45,258 for janitorial services. The money was earmarked "for unanticipated precautionary coronavirus related tasks."

That's feds-speak for ... we had to scrub down real good after an employee recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Bottom line: There's no good place to contract coronavirus, but it's super expensive when it happens at NASA.

Call it a lockdown within the lockdown -- U.S. prisoners will be kept inside their assigned cells for the next 14 days in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons announced Tuesday night its new guideline will go into effect beginning Wednesday ... calling for all inmates in every prison across the nation to be secured in their assigned cells/quarters to decrease the spread of COVID-19.

This is BOP's Phase 5 plan as it desperately tries to combat the outbreak in prisons across America. BOP also says -- to the extent practicable -- inmates will have access to programs and services offered under normal operating procedures, such as mental health treatment and education.

After 14 days, if BOP deems it necessary ... it can choose to extend the lockdown. BOP will also work with U.S. Marshals to "significantly decrease incoming movement" to its prisons.

An 18-wheeler hauling toilet paper across the country crashed and went up in flames on a Texas interstate ... and reams of priceless rolls ended up as roadkill.

The crazy scene unfolded on Interstate 20 early Wednesday morning, when the driver of the tractor-trailer lost control of the rig ... flipping the truck on its side and spilling the precious cargo.

The trailer loaded with commercial TP was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

The crash created a huge traffic snarl during rush hour -- people are still apparently out on the roads in Dallas -- as crews worked to clear the smoldering wreckage. FYI ... Texas does not have a mandatory stay-at-home order.

A Southern California strip club has finally slammed its doors shut after a local news station rightly ratted them out for staying open ... but it took undercover work first.

The story's pretty wild ... L.A.'s own Fox 11 news team got tipped off about a strip joint in an unincorporated part of town, called City of Industry, CA, which went by the name of Bliss Showgirls. Apparently, they refused to comply with the shutdown order of non-essential businesses across the city and state ... and were still operating all the way through Friday.

The local news team sent some reporters of theirs undercover out to the club to record footage of several patrons coming and out, clearly showing Bliss was open for business.

Not only that, but Bliss' own social media accounts had defiantly stated they weren't closing, something the owner of the club told Fox 11 was due to a disgruntled ex-employee who had hacked the account. When they pressed him though ... he told them to piss off.