Mary Lemanski, social media manager for the Democratic Party of DuPage County, was let go from her position Monday morning after posting a series of tweets comparing Kyle Rittenhouse to the driver of the SUV that sped through barricades and struck dancers, musicians and others during a Waukesha, Wisconsin, Christmas parade.

“It was probably just self-defense #Wisconsin #KyleRittenhouse,” Lemanski tweeted about the tragedy that left five dead and 40 injured.

She followed up the statement, replying to a comment deriding her opinion and saying, “I’m sad. I’m sad anytime anyone dies. I just believe in Karma and this came around quick on the citizens of Wisconsin.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-dupage-county-democrat-mary-lemanski-twitter-waukesha-20211122-4msgxxirpnb27blxuycxzxyfny-story.html

Source: Los Angeles Times

COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen significantly in the Inland Empire and Central Valley, bringing new concerns about whether the shift represents a precursor to a wider spike in COVID-19 in California as the winter holidays approach.

Across the state, both cases and hospitalizations hit a plateau after months of decline. Hospitalizations have remained fairly flat in some areas with relatively high vaccination rates, including the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County.

But in some areas with lower vaccination rates, such as Riverside, San Bernardino and Fresno counties, conditions are deteriorating, with hospitalizations up by more than 20% in recent weeks. And even some places with relatively high vaccination rates are seeing COVID-19 hospitalizations tick upward; in Orange County, COVID-19 hospitalizations are up by 16% since Halloween.

Health officials have been warning about a potential new rise in COVID-19 in California as seniors who got their shots last winter — and haven't received a booster shot — may start to see their immunity wane, leaving them exposed to greater risk for infection and hospitalization, and as people gather indoors more as the weather cools and the holidays approach.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/covid-19-hospitalizations-rising-in-parts-of-california-a-potentially-ominous-sign/ar-AAQuNrG

Source: AFP

Frankfurt (AFP) – The World Health Organization expressed "grave concern" Thursday over the rising pace of coronavirus infections in Europe, as Germany registered its biggest daily increase since the start of the pandemic.

"We are, once again, at the epicentre," WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference.

He warned that according to "one reliable projection" the current trajectory would mean "another half a million Covid-19 deaths" by February.

Alarm bells were ringing especially in Germany, the European Union's most populous country, where the number of new cases over the past 24 hours soared to almost 34,000 on Thursday -- an all-time high, according to the Robert Koch Institute health agency.

Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211104-grave-concern-over-covid-in-europe-as-german-cases-soar

Source: CBS News

A potentially faster-spreading "sub-lineage" of the coronavirus Delta variant named AY.4.2 has been spotted by labs in at least 8 states, and health authorities in the United Kingdom say they are investigating a growing share of cases from this strain of the virus.

Labs in California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Washington state, plus the District of Columbia, have so far spotted at least one case of AY.4.2.

While it may spread somewhat faster, health authorities have not found evidence of more severe illness caused by the variant, and they say current vaccines remain effective against it.

The sub-lineage has remained a small fraction of circulating cases in the U.S. for several weeks, but American health officials say they are already ramping up efforts to study the new Delta variant descendant.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-delta-plus-variant-ay-4-2-states/