The former Democratic vice president has disregarded the Republican incumbent's unlikely challenge to his win, announcing Ron Klain as White House chief of staff, marking his first major appointment. With record-breaking daily coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the US, the focus of the presidential transition will be on the pandemic's response, which has worsened since the election on Nov. 3. Trump will remain in office until Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, with foreign allies congratulating Biden. The Elders, a group of prominent former world leaders chaired by Mary Robinson, have urged Trump to accept defeat, concerned about the impact on American democracy. Attention will now likely turn to Biden's choices for Cabinet positions, although there have been few hints from aides about when announcements will be made. Antony Blinken, a diplomat and longtime confidant, is considered a potential candidate for secretary of state or national security adviser. The treasury secretary will need to address challenges such as a recession, joblessness, wealth inequality, and climate change. Klain, who previously served as Democratic President Barack Obama's "Ebola czar," is expected to play a key role in the Biden administration's response to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Biden is bringing in Klain, a trusted and experienced operative who also worked as Democratic Vice President Al Gore's top aide during Bill Clinton's administration. Gore praised his high level of knowledge and well-grounded advice in various aspects, including policy, arguments, and political and justice contexts, in an interview with Reuters. The United States broke records again on Wednesday with over 142,000 new coronavirus cases and nearly 65,000 hospitalizations. The death toll increased by 1,464, nearing levels seen during the first wave earlier this year. Biden has secured enough battleground states to surpass the 270 electoral votes needed in the Electoral College, as well as leading in the popular vote by over 5.2 million votes and 3.4 percentage points, with some states still counting ballots. Since major news organizations declared Biden as the winner of the election on Saturday, Trump has kept a light public schedule, choosing to express his grievances on Twitter instead. He has not addressed the increasing number of COVID-19 cases nationwide. Trump is focusing on overturning the election results in closely contested states without providing any evidence of irregularities that could impact the outcome, receiving skepticism from judges. His team is busy raising funds for legal challenges, with donations over $8,000 going towards election challenges, while smaller donations go to the Republican National Committee or a newly formed political action committee for other purposes like travel expenses or political campaigns. The Democrats have accused Trump of trying to erode public confidence in the US election system and invalidate Biden's win. Throughout his nearly four years in office, Trump has caused political divisions and broken democratic norms. According to Edison Research, Biden has secured 279 electoral votes. Although some news outlets have already added Arizona's 11 electoral votes to Biden's total, Edison Research has not yet declared the traditionally Republican state for the Democrat, who is currently leading by a 0.3 percentage point margin. Results in Georgia, another historically Republican stronghold with 16 electoral votes, also show Biden in the lead by 0.3 percentage points. In order for Trump to stay in office, he would have to win Arizona and Georgia, as well as reverse the results in one or more states where Biden is currently ahead, before the Electoral College vote on December 14th. This is seen as a very improbable scenario. Trump mentioned on Twitter that if they can audit all the votes, he believes they would also win Arizona. However, Arizona's Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs, stated that the margin of victory was not small enough to warrant a recount. With around 25,000 ballots still left to count, Trump would need to win 65 percent of the remaining votes in order to surpass Biden's lead. Hobbs told CNN on Thursday that there is a possibility of a recount happening, but he believes it is unlikely. Georgia has opted to conduct a manual recount of its votes. Despite this decision, Georgia's Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, expressed doubt that many errors would be discovered from the initial machine count. Raffensperger assured Fox News Channel on Thursday that regardless of the outcome, the recount will be accurate and provide a clear understanding of the vote totals.