NEW YORK - The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the United States, a US physician said in a CNN opinion piece released on Tuesday.

Nadine Burke Harris, also the surgeon general of California, said in her commentary that ACEs are not only social problems, but also harmful to children's health.

"ACEs have been on the rise during the pandemic, as have other risk factors for toxic stress that can hurt long-term physical and mental health -- like having a relative die, which tens of thousands of children have experienced because of COVID-19," she said.

To heal the country from the impacts of COVID-19, it is necessary to rescue the kids from the pandemic trauma, she added.