Overview

• Speaking on Sept. 23 at the United Nations’ Healthy Indoor Air: A Global Call to Action event in New York, the 19-year-old addressed the audience while wearing a KN95 mask.
• She criticized the push for a return to normal, warned that SARS‑CoV‑2 spreads through the air, and said repeat infections increase the risk of long COVID.
• Her appeal included wider mask availability and free distribution, paid sick leave, universal healthcare, and investment in clean‑air infrastructure.
• Affleck cited immunologist Akiko Iwasaki in asserting that long COVID has surpassed asthma as the most common chronic illness in children five and under, presenting it as a pressing pediatric concern.
• The speech builds on her July 2024 testimony to the L.A. County Board urging mask access, filtration and Far‑UVC, opposition to mask bans, and on her Yale public‑health writing, with no immediate policy changes reported.