Nurse!

The wrath of coronavirus is threatening to delay the biggest game of the college football season -- the National Championship.

Ohio State is reportedly concerned COVID protocols could leave them short-handed when they take on Alabama on January 11. The school is worried "it could be without a position group due to COVID-19 testing and related protocols," according to AL.com.

Unclear which position group would be affected -- but imagine playing in a championship game without all of your wide receivers ... or offensive linemen ... or QBs??? C'mon.

There's already a backup plan in place -- the College Football Playoff honchos booked Hard Rock Stadium for Jan. 18 in case the game was delayed.

Multiple outlets, including AL.com and ESPN, have confirmed there have already been talks about postponing the game ... but so far, the plan is still to kick off on Jan. 11.

"I can tell you there are no changes," College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock told ESPN ... "The game is scheduled for Jan. 11 as planned, and we look forward to it."

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith also addressed the situation -- essentially saying the team will be ready to switch dates if it comes down to it.

"We're following the same protocols we followed all season long," Smith told ESPN.

"We intend to play on Jan. 11, and we continue to communicate with the Big Ten and now the CFP, so at this point in time, we see the game being played. But who knows what tomorrow will bring? That's COVID. We're on track right now."

Tanya Roberts' death has been greatly exaggerated, because her rep now says she's alive, despite the rep not only telling TMZ she died, but sending out a press release with that information.

TMZ reported Sunday Tanya had died after collapsing at her home on Christmas Eve and being rushed to the hospital and placed on a ventilator.

The rep had told us she died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. He told us Tanya's husband had informed him that Tanya had passed.

We even got a quote from the rep from Tanya's husband, Lance, saying, "As I held her in her last moments, she opened her eyes."

Now the rep, Mike Pingel, tells TMZ, Lance got a call just after 10 AM Monday from the hospital saying Tanya was still alive. Pingel said Lance truly believed Tanya had died.

What's more shocking, Lance was recording an interview with Inside Edition when he got the call from the hospital to deliver the news ... a very emotional call.

Interestingly, friends of the family also contacted TMZ Sunday saying Lance had called them to inform them of the "That '70s Show" star's death.

As for how this could happen ... beats us.

Very cool and inspirational move from NFL star Alex Smith ... the QB transformed his leg-saving brace into a trophy -- and the piece came out AWESOME.

Smith's wife, Liz, revealed the artwork before the signal-caller and the Washington Football Team locked up the NFC East title Sunday night ... saying, "No matter the outcome, Alex has already won."

Liz added praise to the welder who fabricated the piece ... writing, "Special thanks to @coldhardart for transforming a symbol of hard times to a trophy of triumph we can proudly put on our shelves."

Of course, you'll recall ... Smith needed the brace for several months after he broke both his fibula and tibia during a violent hit from J.J. Watt in a November 2018 game.

Alex nearly lost the leg while trying to recover ... ultimately requiring 17 surgeries to fix the break and the ensuing infection it caused.

The 36-year-old, though, has miraculously shown no signs of deteriorated play in his return this season ... and it seems staring at the twisted metal that used to be affixed to his leg has helped in all of that.

The piece is clearly inspired by the Lombardi Trophy -- which is awarded each year to the winner of the Super Bowl.

For the artist's part, Cold Hard Art wrote of transforming the brace, "Might be one of the most unique projects to be part of turning a leg stabilizer into a symbols of strength and determination."

UFC fighter Mike Perry is on the mend after slicing himself open during a bizarre incident late Sunday night -- posting footage showing doctors stitching up his wound.

The 29-year-old initially posted video showing him lying in a pool of blood Sunday next to a shattered glass door. It appears as if Perry opened a massive gash while trying to smash through the glass.

While on the ground, Perry says to himself, "F*ck am I supposed to do about this?"

Fans on social media expressed concern for the fighter who seems to be in a downward spiral -- following allegations of domestic abuse and a separate violent incident at a steak restaurant back in July.

But, early Monday morning, Perry posted video from what appears to be a hospital room -- showing a doctor treating the wound on his lower right leg.

A few hours later, Perry posted more footage showing himself walking his dog -- so, all better?

Perry has fought in the UFC since 2016 and has flashed real potential -- earning multiple fight of the night and performance of the night bonuses along the way.

But, losses to guys like Cowboy Cerrone, Geoff Neal and most recently Tim Means (in Nov.) have kept him from reaching that next level.

Gotta hand it to Florida in 2021 ... it never disappoints.

Just one hour into the New Year, a massive fight erupts in downtown Sarasota, and it doesn't seem coincidental it's right next to a brewery. The video begins with a skinny guy in a fake Versace shirt taking a fighting stance. The skinny dude tries looking tough ... dancing around as if he's ready to trade blows.

Well, he gets more than he bargains for, because another guy punches him, knocking him back against a car. Then, another guy from the group lends a hand and sucker punches him.

And then ... a guy hovers over the dude and literally uses his face as a punching bag, striking him more than a dozen times.

Another fight then breaks out nearby, and eventually cops come to break it all up.

The Sarasota Police Watch Commander tells TMZ, cops responded to 2 separate fights. In each fight, one person went to the hospital, although no one was seriously injured.

Louis Gossett, Jr. can tell you how bad COVID is ... he has it, was hospitalized for it, but left because it's a s*** show inside.

Sources connected to the Oscar-winning actor tell TMZ ... the 84-year-old tested positive and was so sick he couldn't even stand. He was taken to a Georgia-area hospital, where he stayed for just a couple days before bolting. We're told he was put in an area with all the other COVID patients, and the wave of deaths freaked him out.

Hospital staff begged him to stay -- given his age and underlying conditions including cancer -- but Louis was determined to leave, and he did. He checked out Tuesday.

Louis -- best known his award-winning roles in "An Officer and a Gentleman" and on "Roots" -- tells TMZ and everyone else, "Please wear masks, social distance, isolate, pray and listen within. We cannot survive without one another."

Louis is now at home with his son ... and he is isolating.

Buddy Valastro built a hospital this week ... out of cake batter.

The "Cake Boss" wanted to show his appreciation to the doctors who saved his right hand after it was mangled in a bowling accident, so he baked them a cake in the form of the hospital where he was treated.

Buddy posted a pic of his handiwork, with the caption, "Check out the super special cake I made for Dr. Michelle Carlson, the nurses and staff at @hspecialsurgery as a token of my immense appreciation!" adding, "It replicates the main hospital there in #NYC. 🌃 I could never thank them enough for all they have done to help me on this journey to a full recovery ♥️"

As we reported, Buddy was bowling back in September when he tried releasing a bowling pin from the cage mechanism. His right hand got lodged and compressed in the unit, which was lodged in the mechanism for 5 minutes. His sons rushed into a garage and got a saw to cut through the metal rod to free Buddy's hand.

Buddy was rushed to the hospital where doctors removed a rod and treated a ghastly wound. A second surgery was performed by Dr. Michelle Carlson, whom he gave a special shout-out when he delivered the cake.

Jamar Mackey, the VA Beach man cops erroneously detained at a mall, says he's tested positive for COVID-19 ... and he's squarely blaming the maskless officers who cuffed him.

Jamar's outrageous encounter with cops on Dec. 19 made national headlines, because VA Beach PD grabbed the wrong guy in what appeared to be a clear case of racial profiling. At the time, Jamar and his fiancé told TMZ they were pissed -- not only for the humiliation and alleged profiling -- but because the officers were not wearing masks.

Jamar and Shantel Covil tell us they take the pandemic and quarantine very seriously because he owns a sanitizing business, and she has a home healthcare business. They both test frequently, and he says he got his positive test result on Dec. 22 -- just 3 days after the incident -- so he's convinced that was the source of his infection.

As for whether the involved officers have the coronavirus -- VBPD says they can't comment due to privacy laws.

So far, Shantel has tested negative, but Jamar tells us they're most concerned about their children, including their a newborn, contracting the virus.

Anwar Hadid insists he's not a hardline anti-vaxxer -- he's had them before -- and now wants to explain what he meant when he told fans he would not get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The 21-year-old model is clarifying his weekend posts where he said of the COVID vaccine ... "Either I just don't get it or I get it and god willing heal from it and get antibodies rather than do that process unnaturally, our bodies are made by the creator to do way more than we think."

On Monday, he said he didn't mean to make such a broad, sweeping generalization -- “I think everyone has to be careful with each vaccine individually looking at positive and possible negative side effects,”

Gigi and Bella's younger bro has been diagnosed with Lyme disease -- just like his mom, Yolanda, and Bella -- and referenced that as part of his hesitation about inoculation.

Anwar added, “As someone who has had a compromised immune system, I want to continue to learn about the many ways I can protect myself and others. never meant to offend with my words.”

Singer Jessie J spent Christmas in the hospital, deaf and unable to walk, with a disease that has no cure.

Jessie J suffers from Meniere's disease ... an inner-ear condition that causes extreme ringing in the ear, hearing loss and vertigo.

The "Bang Bang" singer said she went totally deaf in her right ear and could not walk a straight line ... presumably from vertigo, which messes with your equilibrium, making the room spin.

The ringing in the ears can sound like a jet engine with unrelenting noise that is almost impossible to ignore.

Channing Tatum's on-again-off-again GF described it as "sound[ing] like there's someone trying to run out of my ear ... like someone crawled in and turned a hairdryer on."

Anwar Hadid will NOT get the COVID vaccine, despite the fact he has an underlying condition and is therefore more at risk for a bad outcome if he gets the virus.

Anwar, the little brother of models Gigi and Bella Hadid who followed in their footsteps down the runway, was asked on Instagram if he'd get inoculated, and he couldn't have been clearer ... "Absolutely not."

The 21-year-old was chatting with fans when he made it clear ... he's an anti-vaxxer ... "Either I just don't get it or I get it and god willing heal from it and get antibodies rather than do that process unnaturally, our bodies are made by the creator to do way more than we think."

Anwar has Lyme disease, which could put him more at risk for COVID complications than many of his 21-year-old contemporaries. To make it even dicier, some COVID symptoms are similar to Lyme disease symptoms.

One of the COVID vaccines is just swell for folks who dabble in face fillers ... but this is the bad kind of swell.

Turns out some people who got cosmetic facial fillers have had unique side effects to the Moderna vaccine ... swelling and inflammation.

A few patients had cheek fillers 6 months before getting inoculated. One patient had lip fillers 2 days after getting the vaccine.

As for why it happens, doctors say the vaccine puts your immune system into overdrive, and when it spots a substance that is not a natural part of the body it attacks, and that's what causes the inflammation.

Although this info is sure to send L.A. into panic mode, fear not, because the symptoms subside with steroids and anti-histamines.

Doctors say the side effects are not severe and should in no way inhibit people from getting the vaccine.

"Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro is out of the cast he had on his impaled right hand, and showing it off for the first time ... while also talking about his challenging road to recovery.

TMZ got this exclusive clip of a new TV special documenting Buddy's horrific freak accident. You get to see the TLC reality star getting the plaster removed. The Boss' cake hand was covered in stitches and staples, but the good news is he's starting to get feeling back.

Now, if you're squeamish, watching his son, Buddy Valastro Jr., give an up-close view of the bowling pinsetter that caught his dad's hand ... might be a little rough. Straight out of a horror movie.

Luckily, Buddy's strength in that all-important hand is improving -- which he displayed for us on "TMZ Live" ... complete with a gnarly scar and everything.

As for how he's navigating his cake biz these days, BV says he's had to teach himself how to be ambidextrous -- for virtually every task, really -- but has a ways to go until he's back in tip-top shape. Sounds like he's leaning left now, which has its limitations.

Still, it's pretty miraculous he's come along as well as he has considering the severity of that September accident ... when the pinsetter stabbed right through his hand -- flesh, bone, tendon and all -- which required a bunch of surgeries.

Speaking of that, Buddy tells us he's actually glad he captured a lot of that action on camera -- which will air in that new TV special above -- because he says it helped show exactly what happened, which led him to the right hand doctor almost immediately.

Welp, here's a Christmas nightmare -- a guy with a painful grumbling in his gut quickly learned more than 100 worms had set up shop in his body, and had to be surgically removed.

This went down this week in the Vietnamese city of Thanh Hoa, where reports say a man wandered into a hospital with complaints of incessant stomach pain. A doc checked him out and discovered his stomach resembled a live bait shop -- it was basically worm city in there!

Of course, they immediately sent the dude into surgery, and recorded the whole thing -- which means you can watch what happened, but ya better be into this kinda thing, 'cause it is GROSS!!!

The doctor and his team literally fished out more than 100 parasitic worms -- which had apparently started with just one that laid a bunch of eggs. Word is ... the medical team chalked the infestation up to poor eating habits. Go figure.

Dr. Anthony Fauci -- America's true leader in the battle against the coronavirus -- just got the COVID-19 vaccine ... along with some of his colleagues.

Fauci took his shot in the arm Tuesday morning at a National Institutes of Health kickoff event in Bethesda, Maryland. He got the first dose of the Moderna vaccine, which he and his team helped develop.

Fauci wanted the nation to see him roll up his sleeve and get inoculated ... a message to the public he has complete confidence in the vaccine. He gave everyone 2 big thumbs up.

The country's leading infectious disease expert was joined by other top Trump administration health officials in getting vaccinated, including HHS Secretary Alex Azar and NIH Director Francis Collins.

Before getting their injections, all 3 men spoke on the incredible scientific accomplishment in getting this vaccine out in such a short time frame ... providing hope and saving lives going forward. A small group of nurses and healthcare providers also got their shots on stage.

As you may know ... the FDA approved the Moderna vaccine for emergency use Friday night, days after frontline health workers and several politicians began getting Pfizer's vaccine.

Former Playboy model Victoria Valentino didn't think twice after seeing a gunshot victim lying in her street ... rushing to action and playing nurse until paramedics arrived.

Victoria tells TMZ ... she was sitting in her Altadena, CA home Sunday afternoon when she heard what sounded like a bunch of quick firecrackers -- cops say it was a shooting -- and went outside to discover a neighbor down on the ground.

VV says the man had gunshot wounds, including one in his shoulder, and he was turning gray and going into shock ... so she used her experience as a retired hospice and respiratory nurse, raising his leg to keep blood flowing to the heart and brain.

Victoria, the September 1963 Playmate and a Bill Cosby rape accuser and survivor, says the gunshot victim's wife was by his side too ... and they did what they could to keep him calm until paramedics arrived and took over. She says it's just what nurses do.