Violet Affleck calls for action on long COVID

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's teenage daughter Violet has made a passionate plea for long COVID to be taken seriously.

Violet, 18, attended a meeting of local officials in Los Angeles on Tuesday (09.07.24) and made a passionate speech in which she revealed she battled an unspecified "post-viral condition" in 2019 and called for more to be done to tackle cases of COVID-19 that have led to lasting complications - asking for face masks to be worn in public buildings and for increased availability of testing and treatment.

During a meeting of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Violet used the public comment section to make her plea. She introduced herself as Violet Affleck, Los Angeles resident, first-time voter and 18."

She went on: "I contracted a post-viral condition in 2019. I'm OK now, but I saw first-hand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper 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 then laid out a series of measures she wants to be implemented to help keep cases down. She added: "To confront the long COVID crisis, I demand mask availability, air filtration and far-UVC light in government facilities, including jails and detention centres, and mask mandates in county medical facilities.

"We must expand the availability of high-quality 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."

Garner, 52, and Affleck, 51, - who divorced in 2018 - are also parents to Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12.