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Sylvester Stallone's getting back into the ring -- and this time ... he's fighting the coronavirus with a pair of gloves he's probably not all that used to.

The legendary actor was spotted at a Whole Foods Sunday in Beverly Hills, where Rocko was snapping up a bunch of groceries ... but wasn't touching any of it with his bare hands. Nope -- the guy was rocking what appear to be latex gloves ... ya know, like doctor gloves.

Either that, or he was getting ready to put on an elaborate magic show. We're guessing this was coronavirus related, though.

He seemed pretty chillaxed about it, and everybody else did too. That said, it's clear Sly's taking the pandemic pretty seriously ... going the better safe than sorry route. Interestingly enough ... no masks here. That's something a bunch of celebs have been rockin'.

Hopefully, SS can show that coronavirus a thing or two about resilience. If there's anyone who can bounce back from a molecular beating, it'd probably be the Italian Stallion himself.