Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s daughter, Violet Affleck, continues to wear a face mask in public, and she has a compelling reason for doing so. Despite the relaxation of mask mandates since the 2020 COVID-19 peak, 18-year-old Violet is often seen with her face covered while out with her parents, who parted ways in 2018.
Violet recently took her rationale to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to voice her opposition against mask bans, highlighting their significance.
In a video she posted on X, the daughter of the stars from ‘Daredevil’ addressed the committee while masked. She introduced herself and shared her personal experiences with post-viral conditions. “Hi, Violet Affleck, Los Angeles resident, first-time voter, I’m 18. I contracted a post-viral condition in 2019, I’m OK now, but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses,” she explained.
Violet outlined necessary measures to address the ongoing long Covid crisis, including “mask availability, air filtration, and far-UVC lights in government facilities, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates in county medical facilities.”
“One in ten infections leads to long COVID,” she stated, shedding light on the severe implications of long Covid, which she described as “a devastating neurological (and) cardiovascular illness that can diminish people’s ability to work, move, see, and even think.”
“It stands to exacerbate our homelessness crisis, as well as the suffering of many people in our city,” Violet added, stressing the disproportionate impact on various vulnerable groups.
The young advocate articulated the importance of her continued use of a mask as a form of protest and urged the board to stand against mask bans. “We must expand the availability of free tests and treatment and, most importantly, the county must oppose mask bans for any reason. They 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. Thank you,” she concluded.
Violet’s articulate stance has garnered online support, with one user calling her a ‘strong, articulate, smart, brave young woman’, while another encouraged her to ‘keep fighting & use that name & voice for good!’.
Her advocacy comes in the wake of LA’s decision to lift mandatory face coverings in health care facilities, despite the significant number of Covid-related fatalities in the area, listed by the County of Los Angeles Public Health at 37,709.