Overview

• Affleck spoke on Sept. 23 at the United Nations event Healthy Indoor Air: A Global Call to Action, calling for a return to masking and robust indoor air protections.
• She labeled filtered air a human right and likened comprehensive clean-air upgrades to past bans on indoor smoking.
• Warning about harms from repeated SARS-CoV-2 infections, she quoted Yale scientist Akiko Iwasaki and said long COVID has surpassed asthma as the most common chronic illness in children five and under.
• She delivered the remarks wearing a high-filtration mask, building on earlier advocacy that included 2024 testimony in Los Angeles for hospital mask mandates, PPE access and free testing.
• Her appearance drew extensive coverage and sharply split reactions, including criticism from Meghan McCain who argued she should not have addressed the UN.