U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (July 7) that the White House will push state governors hard to get schools opened in the fall despite a spike in coronavirus cases in the country.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a new rule on Monday (July 6) that students on F-1 (academic student) and M-1 (vocational or technical student) visas may not remain in the United States if they take a full online-only course load for the fall semester.

The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools that operate under an online-only course model, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will not permit such students to enter the country, according to an ICE statement.

ICE said students affected by the new policy can transfer to a school with in-person instruction to retain their legal status; otherwise, they will be deemed to be in the U.S. illegally and subject to deportation.

Chinese students celebrate their graduation from Columbia University on May 20, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

U.S. has reported nearly 3 million cases of COVID-19 nationwide as of Tuesday morning, with over 131,000 deaths. The White House has officially moved to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization (WHO) by submitting a notice of withdrawal to the United Nations effective July 6, 2021, officials said.

Other countries with over 20,000 fatalities include Brazil, Britain, Italy, Mexico, France, Spain and India, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Editor: Becky

Sources: China Daily, CGTN