Trump calls COVID school closures a 'terrible decision' even as death toll rises

US President Donald Trump has said California's two largest school districts were making a "terrible mistake" by making students stay home for the upcoming term in the face of the resurgent coronavirus pandemic.

Against the backdrop of rising cases and deaths, US school districts have been confronted with a difficult choice of resuming classes or using only online teaching, which many parents have called ineffective and burdensome.

The president, in an interview with CBS News, on Tuesday said it was a mistake for Los Angeles and San Diego school districts to provide only on-line education for the academic year beginning in August.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

"I would tell parents and teachers that you should find yourself a new person, whoever's in charge of that decision, because it's a terrible decision," Trump said.

"Because children and parents are dying from that trauma too. They're dying because they can't do what they're doing. Mothers can't go to work because all of a sudden they have to stay home and watch their child, and fathers," he said.

Trump, who has been reluctant to embrace mandatory face masks ordered by many US governors to control the spread of COVID-19, also told CBS Americans should wear them "if necessary."

School districts refusing to send children back to class in the fall, like those in California, are at odds with Trump, who has said he may withhold federal funds or remove tax-exempt status from schools that don't open.

The president's comments came as Alabama, Florida and North Carolina on Tuesday reported record daily increases in deaths from COVID-19, marking grim new milestones of a second wave of infections surging across much of the United States.

Florida, which has become an epicentre of the new outbreak, reported 133 new COVID-19 fatalities on Tuesday, raising the state's death toll to more than 4,500.

Alabama reported a record spike of 40 deaths on Tuesday and North Carolina an increase of 35, bringing each state's total to over 1,100.

Trump's campaign views the reopening of classrooms as a key to economic recovery and a boost to his re-election chances on November 3.

(with inputs from Reuters)