Violet Affleck Advocates Against Mask Bans in LA Hospitals

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have raised a strong and steadfast woman.

On Tuesday, their eldest daughter Violet Affleck, 18, spoke to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors during the Public Comment section demanding mask availability, mask mandates in hospitals, and clean air in all government buildings including jails and detention centers.

In her plea, she evoked a personal experience stating she contracted a post-viral condition in 2019. “I’m okay now, but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses,” she said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharp relief.”

“One in 10 infections leads to long COVID, which is a devastating neurological [and] cardiovascular illness that can take away people’s ability to work, move, see, and even think,” Violet continued, pointing out that the condition affects people who are unhoused or generally more vulnerable than the rest of the population.

“[Long COVID] stands to exacerbate our homelessness crisis as well as the suffering of many people in our city. It hits communities of color, disabled people, elderly people, trans people, anyone in a public-facing essential job the hardest.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes long COVID as a “chronic condition” that an individual has an increasing risk of contracting each time they are infected with the COVID-19 virus.

She then clearly introduced a set of propositions that could “confront the long COVID crisis.”

“I demand masks availability, air filtration, and Far-UVC light in government facilities—including jails and detention centers—and mask mandates in county medical facilities,” she said. “You must expand the availability of high-quality free tests and treatment and, most importantly, the county must oppose mask bans for any reason.”

Despite increasing cases of COVID-19 in the city, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that city officials are looking into banning masks at public demonstrations. Other cities like New York are also considering mask bans within their own jurisdictions, and Republican lawmakers in North Carolina restricted the wearing of masks in public with a controversial bill passed in June.

Governing authorities must resist “mask bans,” she said. “[Mask bans] do not keep us safer. They make vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together.”