Rhiannon Ingle
For many of us, wearing face masks was a part of our daily lives back in 2020 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, despite the fact that Covid is far from over, many people now choose to go about their day-to-day lives without one.
Just this month, the UK Health and Security Agency published figures last updated on 18th September, which showed 1,664 cases, 79 deaths and 1,162 patients admitted.
But it's clear that Ben Affleck's daughter Violet is not one of those individuals who has stopped wearing a mask.
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In fact, Violet's actually openly campaigned against mask banning with her latest health plea from earlier this week, thrusting her into the spotlight once again.
Violet is the eldest daughter of Affleck and Jennifer Garner.
She is also a sibling to the Hollywood A-lister couple's other two children: Seraphina, 16, and 13-year-old Samuel.
The 19-year-old is currently studying public health at Yale University and has recently published a research paper in Yale's Global Health Review comparing the response to the LA wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Violet frequently seen wearing a mask on a number of occasions after being diagnosed with a 'post-viral condition' back in 2019, she revealed this during her speech for the LA County Board of Supervisors last year.
"I’m OK now, but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses," she said.
That reality, she explained, is the reason she continues to wear a mask when out in public – even long after mandates were dropped.
She further warned against a ban on masks, adding that they 'do not keep us safer', but rather make 'vulnerable members of our community less safe'.
She also previously called for the county to 'expand the availability of high-quality free tests and treatment, and most importantly, the county must oppose mask bans for any reason'.
Violet could also be seen donning a mask for the event on Tuesday (23 September), where she urged world leaders to take airborne illness seriously and insisted the fight against long COVID is far from over.
"It is neglect of the highest order to look children in the eyes and say, 'We knew how to protect you, and we didn’t do it,'" she said, also criticising society’s push to move 'back to normal' while downplaying the ongoing risks.
The teen additionally argued that clean air should be considered just as much of a human right as clean water, adding: "We can create clean air infrastructure that is so ubiquitous and so obviously necessary, tomorrow’s children don’t even know why we need it."
"Long COVID has surpassed asthma as the most common chronic illness in children in five years and under," Violent continued, lamenting that she was 'terrified' for children who 'will not know a world without debilitating pain and exhaustion', after experiencing COVID.
"Young people lacked both real choice in the matter and information about what was being chosen for us," she added.
"We are told by leaders across the board that we are the future. But when it comes to the ongoing pandemic, our present is being stolen right in front of our eyes."
Violet's speech certainly rubbed Meghan McCain, the daughter of John McCain, US senator from Arizona and the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, the wrong way, prompting her to rush to social media to call out the teen's address.
"Every single thing about all of this is why people hate nepo babies so much," the 40-year-old former The View co-host wrote in the post.
She went on: "She has no business speaking at the UN," adding that "what she is speaking about is patently absurd."
McCain, who dubs herself a 'nepo baby' as per her X bio, only kept the post up for a matter of minutes before she took it down.
However, people were quick to point out the irony in McCain's post with one X user pointing out: "Is that the Meghan McCain who, on a daily basis, reminds people that Senator McCain is her dad."
"Meghan McCain saying anything about Nepo Babies as if she isn’t the Boss Nepo Baby is wild," echoed another.
Tyla has previously reached out to Meghan McCain as well as Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's representatives for comment.