Trump urges colleges to keep in-person learning

After the University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University became the latest colleges to move classes online because of the coronavirus, US President Donald Trump urged schools to continue with in-person learning.

"We have learned one thing, there is nothing like campus. There is nothing like being with the teacher as opposed to being on a computer board," Trump said.

Trump downplayed the likelihood of severe illness from the coronavirus among young people, saying it was comparable to the "seasonal flu."

Colleges continue to struggle to contain outbreaks and students continue to congregate in large groups without masks or social distancing.

Notre Dame president the Rev. John Jenkins announced the university's decision to cancel in-person undergraduate classes for two weeks in an address to students and staff.

Michigan State, which had been scheduled to start in-person classes on Sept. 2, decided to switch to online instruction as a preventive measure amid the ongoing nationwide pandemic.

Tuesday’s actions followed the decision by officials of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to switch to remote learning starting Wednesday, as the virus makes its mark on colleges - and college towns - across the United States.

At Wednesday's briefing Trump said touted progress against COVID-19, although the U.S. leads the world in the number of coronavirus cases, with 5.4 million cases reported as of Tuesday, and more than 170,000 confirmed dead, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

He pointed to a surge in cases in New Zealand, although the country suffered only a tiny fraction of the deaths that have occured in the U.S.

Trump also responded to the announcement by Attorney General William Barr, who said that federal officers working alongside local police in the initiative known as "Operation Legend" have helped make nearly 1,500 arrests, including dozens for homicides and other violent crimes.

The federal government has dispatched 1,000 federal agents to fight crime in 9 cities. The operation is named for LeGend Taliferro, a Kansas City boy who was killed by gunfire while he slept in his home.