The daughter of Hollywood bigwigs Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner delivered a speech to the United Nations about the importance of mask mandates in preventing the surge of COVID-19 \u2014 five years after the disease shut down the world.<\/p>\n
Violet Affleck, 19,\u00a0made her emotional plea<\/a> while wearing a KN95 mask as part of the \u201cHealthy Indoor Air: A Global Call to Action\u201d at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The Yale University freshman, who\u00a0contracted a post-viral condition in 2019<\/a>, lectured world leaders about how the world is ignoring the \u201congoing pandemic\u201d and\u00a0claimed mask mandates were dropped\u00a0too quickly.<\/p>\n Violet Affleck delivered a speech to the United Nations about the importance of mask mandates in preventing the surge of COVID-19 on Tuesday. UN Web TV<\/p>\n Violet also criticized the \u201cadults\u201d for their \u201crelentless beat of \u2018back to normal\u2019\u201d \u2014 claiming that they\u2019re \u201cignoring, downplaying, and concealing both the prevalence of airborne transmission and the threat of Long Covid manifested in a series of choices.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are told by leaders across the board that we are the future,\u201d Violet said. \u201cBut, when it comes to the ongoing pandemic, our present is being stolen right in front of our eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people lacked both real choice in the matter and information about what was being chosen for us,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Her remarks fly in the face of some research \u2013 including\u00a0one major study from the Cochrane Library\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that ultimately found masks made\u00a0\u201clittle to no difference\u201d in curbing the spread of COVID.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Still, Violet\u00a0argued that evidence showed\u00a0SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted through the air and can persist in indoor environments, and that \u201cone infection can result in disabling damage to almost every cell in the body from the brain and heart to the nerves and blood vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are told by leaders across the board that we are the future,\u201d Violet said. \u201cBut, when it comes to the ongoing pandemic, our present is being stolen right in front of our eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n Violet criticized the \u201cadults\u201d for their \u201crelentless beat of \u2018back to normal,’\u201d claiming that they\u2019re \u201cignoring, downplaying, and concealing both the prevalence of airborne transmission and the threat of Long Covid manifested in a series of choices.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennifer Garner and Violet Affleck arrive at the White House to attend a state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron, in Washington, DC, on Dec. 1, 2022. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people lacked both real choice in the matter and information about what was being chosen for us,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Violet told the world leaders that evidence shows SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted through the air and can persist in indoor environments, and that \u201cone infection can result in disabling damage to almost every cell in the body from the brain and heart to the nerves and blood vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery subsequent infection increases the risk of long COVID and places people who already have it in greater danger,\u201d the 19-year-old stated.<\/p>\n Violet made her emotional plea while wearing a KN95 mask at the UN headquarters in New York. UN Web TV<\/p>\n Violet cited Yale professor Dr. Akiko Iwasaki in saying that the \u201cwhole population in the control group, and after only five years, long COVID surpassed asthma as the most common chronic illness in children in five years or younger.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u00a0added that\u00a0she was \u201cterrified\u201d that children might spread the virus in schools and \u201cwill not know a world without debilitating pain and exhaustion, who cannot trust their bodies to play, explore, and imagine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am furious on their behalf. It is a neglect of the highest order to look children in the eyes and say, \u2018We knew how to protect you and we didn\u2019t do it,’\u201d the teen said. <\/p>\n Ben Affleck and Violet arriving at Michael Rubin\u2019s 4th of July Party in The Hamptons, New York. Elder Ordonez \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n \u201cWe have access to a technology to prevent airborne disease, something that millions of our ancestors and millions of people around the world today would kill for, and we refuse to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I shudder to think of where we will be in another five years of unmitigated infection and reinfection,\u201d she warned, shifting her focus to a different health fight \u2014 the push to outlaw smoking in public.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of you fought the long and hard battle against indoor smoking. My only memory of that era at almost 20 years old is being confused as a child about the no-smoking signs on planes. \u2018Who would do that? That\u2019s gross,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Violet said her \u201chope\u201d is that \u201cwe can recognize filtered air as a human right, as intuitively as we do filtered water.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can create clean air infrastructure that is so ubiquitous and so obviously necessary, so that tomorrow\u2019s children don\u2019t even know why we need it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Violet\u00a0has been an outspoken voice for mask mandates since she shared last year that she contracted a post-viral condition.<\/p>\n Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck arrive at the Oscars at Hollywood & Highland Center on Feb. 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California. Getty Images<\/p>\n Violet\u00a0demanded mask mandates in LA hospitals and advocated for public officials to invest resources in Personal Protective Equipment ahead of a potential future pandemic during a city board meeting in Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n A post-viral condition \u2014 also known as \u201clong COVID\u201d \u2014 occurs following a viral infection, with symptoms that can last for months and often include fatigue, lethargy, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and exhaustion, according to\u00a0the Mayo Clinic<\/a>. <\/p>\n