U.S. surgeon general warns of pandemic's 'devastating' impact on youth mental health

Special: Battle Against Novel Coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a "devastating" impact on the mental health and well-being of America's young people, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has said.

A major problem many young people face is that they do not have access to health care, and if they do, it takes an average of 11 years from when symptoms first present to receive proper care, Murthy was quoted as saying by ABC News.

According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was a 50 percent increase in U.S. teenage girls being admitted to emergency rooms for suicide attempts in 2020, compared to pre-pandemic rates in 2019.