The former Democratic vice president has dismissed the Republican incumbent's unlikely challenge to his win and named longtime advisor Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff in his first major appointment. The surge in daily coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the United States has made the pandemic response the focus of the presidential transition following the Nov. 3 election. Trump will remain in office until Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, with foreign allies congratulating Biden on his victory. The Elders, a group of former world leaders led by ex-Irish President Mary Robinson, have called on Trump to accept defeat to avoid endangering American democracy. The focus is now expected to turn to Biden's selections for Cabinet positions, although his aides have not yet provided much information on when these announcements will be made. Antony Blinken, a diplomat and longtime confidant, is being considered for the roles of secretary of state or national security adviser. The treasury secretary will need to address economic challenges such as a recession and high unemployment, while also tackling issues like wealth inequality and climate change. Klain, who previously served as the "Ebola czar" under President Obama, is expected to play a key role in the Biden administration's response to the current surge in COVID-19 cases. Biden's choice of Klain brings in a trusted and experienced operative who also worked as a top aide to Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration. Gore told Reuters that he always found him to be well-informed and his advice was always based on a strong understanding of the policy process, the quality of the arguments, and the political and justice context. The United States broke records on Wednesday with over 142,000 new coronavirus cases and nearly 65,000 hospitalizations, as reported by Reuters. The death toll increased by 1,464, approaching levels seen during the initial wave earlier this year. Biden has a significant lead, having secured enough battleground states to exceed the 270 electoral votes required in the Electoral College system. Additionally, he is ahead in the popular vote by over 5.2 million votes, or 3.4 percentage points, with some states still tabulating ballots. Since major news organizations declared Biden the winner of the election on Saturday, Trump has kept a limited public schedule and has been venting his frustrations on Twitter instead. He has not addressed the increasing number of COVID-19 cases across the country. Trump is focusing on trying to overturn the election results in close states without any evidence of irregularities, despite skepticism from judges. His team is also busy fundraising for legal challenges, with donations under $8,000 going to other purposes such as travel expenses or political campaigns. Democrats have accused Trump of attempting to erode public trust in the US election system and discredit Biden's win. Trump's presidency has been characterized by political rifts and the breaking of democratic traditions. Edison Research has awarded Biden 279 electoral votes, though Arizona and its 11 electoral votes have not been officially called for Biden by the research organization. Similarly, Georgia, a typically Republican state with 16 electoral votes, shows Biden leading by a slim margin of 0.3 percentage points. In order for Trump to stay in office, he would have to win Arizona and Georgia, as well as overturn one or more states that have already been won by Biden before the Electoral College vote on Dec. 14. This is deemed as a highly improbable scenario. Trump expressed on Twitter that he believes they will easily win in Arizona if the total votes are audited. However, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs stated that the margin of votes was not close enough to trigger a recount. There are still around 25,000 ballots left to be counted, and for Trump to catch up to Biden's lead, he would need to win 65 percent of the remaining votes. Hobbs stated to CNN on Thursday that it is possible for that to occur, although he believes it is unlikely. Georgia has chosen to conduct a manual recount of its votes. Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Republican secretary of state, mentioned that they do not expect to discover many mistakes from the initial machine count. Raffensperger informed Fox News Channel on Thursday that despite potential dissatisfaction with the outcome, the recount will be precise and provide a clear understanding of the vote totals.