More than one thousand students at Liberty University are back in their campus dorm rooms following spring break - despite almost all other US colleges closing their facilities in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

College President Jerry Falwell Jr. welcomed students back to the evangelical school in Lynchburg, Virginia Monday - a move that outraged city officials, college faculty and medical experts alike.

'If Liberty University reopens, people will die,' Dr. Max Cooper, an emergency room doctor leading an Emergency COVID-19 Task Force in Pennsylvania told The Daily Beast Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Marybeth Davis Baggett, a professor of English, penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post which stated: 'It is unconscionable that the leadership of the university is fully implementing Falwell´s politically motivated and rash policy that unnecessarily risks an unmanageable outbreak here in Lynchburg'.

Falwell, who was one of President Donald Trump's earliest supporters, has generally characterized concerns about the virus as overblown. He has praised Trump's response to the crisis, and offered unsubstantiated speculation that coronavirus may have been the work of North Korea,

Liberty University initially planned to continue on-campus instruction, but have now transitioned to online tuition after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam restricted gatherings of more than 100. However, dorm rooms remain open.

More than 1,000 students at Liberty University are back in their campus dorm rooms following spring break - despite almost all other US colleges closing their facilities in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. The campus is pictured

College President Jerry Falwell Jr. (left) is one of President Donald Trump's biggest supporters. The commander-in-chief is pictured delivering the school's 2017 commencement address

Liberty said in a news release Monday that it had been working hard to comply with all state restrictions while providing safe and reliable accommodations for students, including by implementing extra sanitizing measures and changes to on-campus dining.

The school has more than 45,300 students enrolled for the year, but it's unclear how many will return to campus. As of Tuesday, around 1,100 students were back on site.

A Liberty University spokesperson said a former hotel owned by the college is available as a quarantine site if needed and tents have been set up 'preventatively' as a place to direct any student on campus who might feel ill.

There are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Lynchburg.

Lynchburg City Manager Bonnie Svrcek says she believes Falwell 'misled' her when he confirmed that classes were moving online.

'He added that some food services would remain open for on-campus international students who have not gone home and some lab classes and the school of aviation will continue,' Svrcek told The Daily Beast.

'The mayor and I thanked him for this shift that we believed meant that students would be told to not come back to campus with a few exceptions.'

Like the President, Falwell has previously downplayed the threat of COVID-19. The pair are pictured in 2017

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 50,000 Americans have tested positive to the disease. Students from Liberty hail from across the US and could be carrying the virus back from spring break with them

But Falwell believes the college may even be innovative in the way it continues to stay open in spite of the health risks.

'We think Liberty's practices will become the model for all colleges to follow in the fall, if coronavirus is still an issue,' he said in a statement.

Earlier this month Falwell told students during a live stream assembly: 'You guys paid to be here. You wanted to be on campus. I want to give you what you paid for.'

'We do have to be sensitive to people with respiratory problems and to older people,' he added.

One Liberty student said Falwell is modelling himself off his close friend, the commander-in-chief, who has repeatedly claimed he wants to re-open businesses.

'It seems like [Falwell] wants everything to be open pretty quickly, following Trump. I saw this morning that [Trump] wants businesses to reopen. Jerry literally follows anything that Trump says,' the anonymous student told The Daily Beast.

Some Liberty students raised concerns about their classmates' behavior. In interviews, they described 'quarantine' parties happening off campus, as well as large gatherings of students, including meetups to play sports or share meals.

'I would say it´s an exception to see someone do the right thing,' Alexa Whaley, a junior from Albuquerque, New Mexico, told the Associated Press.

Whaley said she went home over spring break and returned because of her job at a local law firm.

It's unclear whether any Liberty students joined spring break festivities in Miami, where pictures of college students ignoring social distancing warnings to party on the beach sparked national outrage.

The school has more than 45,300 students enrolled for the year, but it's unclear how many will return to campus. As of Tuesday, around 1,100 students were back on site.

It's unclear whether any Liberty students joined spring break festivities in Miami, where pictures of college students ignoring social distancing warnings to party on the beach sparked national outrage

In response to widespread anger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis closed down several popular beaches.

'The message I think for spring breakers is that the party is over in Florida,' DeSantis told Fox News last Thursday. 'You're not going to be able to congregate on any beach in the state.

'Many of the hot spots that people like to go to, whether it's Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Clearwater Beach, are closed entirely for the time being,' he added.

Meanwhile, medical experts say that untold numbers of Liberty students could be carrying coronavirus without realizing, and pass it on to other students.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 50,000 Americans have tested positive for the disease. Students from Liberty hail from across the US.

'We have seen how gatherings to people at conventions, prisons, religious meetings, and teaching facilities can be breeding grounds for transmission and this could well become another of those epicenters,' one doctor told The Daily Beast.

And many while faculty members were left less than impressed - there are some who don't seem bothered by the fact that dorm rooms remain open.

One history professor reportedly told students Tuesday: 'There is no evidence that quarantine works, just ask Italy or Spain right now about that... remaining active is the best way to fight off the virus... You should leave your house, it's unhealthy to stay inside for the rest of the semester.'

In response to widespread anger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis closed down several popular beaches after college students ignored social distancing rules