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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s daughter Violet urges Los Angeles officials to oppose mask bans, says she developed post-viral condition
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s 18-year-old daughter Violet is urging Los Angeles officials to oppose mask bans and to issue a mask mandate in medical facilities to help reduce the risk of long COVID, a condition that persists in some patients after being infected with the virus.
After she introduced herself during an L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday as a Los Angeles resident and first-time voter, Violet Affleck explained that she developed a post-viral condition in 2019. In a clip shared on social media, she said that while she is OK now, it showed her 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 devastation neurological, cardiovascular illness that can take away people’s ability to work, move, see and even think” she said.
To help reduce the risk, she called for mask availability and other COVID prevention measures like air filtration and the use of far UV-C light, which can kill viruses, in government facilities, including jails. She also urged mask mandates in county medical facilities.
“We must expand availability of high quality, free tests and treatment,” she said. “And most importantly, the county must oppose mask bans for any reason. They do not keep us safer. They make more vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together.”
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Affleck said COVID still “hits communities of color, disabled people, elderly people, trans people, women and anyone in a public-facing essential jobs the hardest.”
Her comments come at a time when COVID cases are once again on the rise in the U.S., particularly in western states.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, millions of Americans have experienced long COVID, also known as post-COVID syndrome or condition, which may include a continuation of symptoms similar to the original infection, like fatigue and shortness of breath, according to the Mayo Clinic, Symptoms can also include memory loss, generalized pain and orthostasis, decreased blood pressure when standing up or sitting down, and an array of other problems.
Mask mandates to prevent the spread of COVID were issued in cities across the U.S. at the height of the pandemic in 2020, but as cases went down, most places stopped requiring masks.
Recently, some cities have weighed proposals to ban masks — a development that concerns those who rely on masks to help prevent illness.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul backed the idea of a mask ban in New York City’s subway system aimed at criminals covering their faces — but with exceptions for people wearing masks for their health. A similar mask ban was proposed by a local alderman in Chicago earlier this month, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass weighed a mask ban for protesters to make it easier to identify those who allegedly commit crimes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
California’s Division of Public Health rescinded its mask requirement for medical professionals in February when COVID cases receded. The state, however, said it could reverse course if the threat of COVID increases.
The department recommends those infected with COVID or who could have been exposed should still wear a mask, as well as people who are vulnerable to getting sick, like the elderly or those with medical conditions.
So-called strategic masking, or “wearing a mask where and when it might matter most,” can be an option for decreasing your risk of COVID, according to a 2023 report from Yale Medicine. The report recommends considering your personal risk, such as if you have a medical condition, live in a care facility, are elderly or pregnant, or if you are in a medical facility or a crowded place, when choosing whether or not to wear a mask.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike Thursday morning in an effort by the union to pressure the e-commerce giant for a labor agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters say the workers, who authorized walkouts in the past few days, are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a Dec. 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations. Amazon says it doesn’t expect any impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small portion of the 1.5 million people Amazon employs in its warehouses and corporate offices.
Amazon is ranked No. 2 on the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
At a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island, thousands of workers who voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At the other facilities, employees – including many delivery drivers – have unionized with them by demonstrating majority support but without holding government-administered elections.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at an Amazon warehouse in San Francisco and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta and the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join” them, the union said.
“Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” he said.
The Seattle-based online retailer has been seeking to re-do the election that led to the union victory at the warehouse on Staten Island, which the Teamsters now represent. In the process, the company has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
Meanwhile, Amazon says the delivery drivers, which the Teamsters have organized for more than a year, aren’t its employees. Under its business model, the drivers work for third-party businesses, called Delivery Service Partners, who drop off millions of packages to customers everyday.
“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.“
The Teamsters have argued Amazon essentially controls everything the drivers do and should be classified as an employer.
Some U.S. labor regulators have sided with the union in filings made before the NLRB. In September, Amazon boosted pay for the drivers amid the growing pressure.
NEW YORK — The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon at numerous locations across the country, including in Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in United States history, and it’s set to begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will be joining picket lines in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois.
In a video announcement released Wednesday night, workers voiced their frustrations.
“Us being strike ready means we’re fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” one worker says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We’re taking steps for ourselves to win better conditions, better benefits, better wages,” another worker in the video says.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon employees and that Amazon ignored a deadline to come to the table and negotiate. The $2 trillion company doesn’t pay employees enough to make ends meet, the union asserts.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent any Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company doesn’t expect operations to be impacted.
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