Vice-President Mike Pence has tweeted today that he has instructed his White House team that the election "ain't over" yet.

The campaign is still pursuing several legal challenges as the votes continue to be counted and finalised. Biden's win remains a projection until it is certified by the Electoral College on 14 December.

Until then, the Trump campaign is seeking to make the argument that Biden's win was due to "illegal votes", but no evidence has been presented to suggest this and voter fraud is extremely uncommon in US elections.

In other second family news, the Pences will be going on holiday to Florida starting tomorrow.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, they will spend Tuesday through Saturday at Sanibel, an island near Fort Myers on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Reality Check

In his speech on Covid-19, President-elect Joe Biden said: “Infection rates are going up, hospitalisations are going up, deaths are going up.”

He’s right. All of these indicators are indeed rising in the US according to the Covid Tracking Project, external.

Hospital admissions are up by around 85% since the start of October. Deaths are also rising - over the last week, more than 900 people have died each day on average.

More specifically on coronavirus infections, Biden said: “Last week we topped 120,000 cases on multiple successive days.”

On Friday and Saturday last week the US recorded more than 125,000 and 128,000 cases, respectively. The daily average over the last week has been 106,000 cases recorded. On Monday, the US reached 10m total cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Zhaoyin Feng
BBC Chinese, Washington DC

While the Chinese government has not fully acknowledged the Biden victory, a breakfast shop in Beijing has started to reap the benefits.

In 2011, then Vice-President Biden dined here. Following his election victory, Chinese customers have flooded into the restaurant, hoping to try the meal the US president-elect once ate.

The restaurant is famous for its steamed buns and pork liver soup.

Image source, Getty Images

Zhaoyin Feng
BBC Chinese, Washington DC

Image source, Reuters

Two days after Biden was projected to win the US election, China still has not sent an official congratulatory message to the president-elect.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China had “noticed” Biden’s declaration of election victory, but added “we understand the presidential election result will be determined following the US laws and procedures.”

Mr Wang said China would “follow international customary practices” but sidestepped the question of when to issue a statement of congratulations.

A large number of countries have already congratulated Biden, while China remains one of the few prominent powers which have not echoed. So why does Beijing seem cautious?

As the US-China relationship is widely considered to be at its lowest point in decades, Beijing is carefully treading a tightrope.

Biden has vowed to be tough on China and to collaborate with America’s allies to hold the country accountable. But many believe that his administration will pursue a path combining competition with collaboration, rescuing the bilateral relationship from a free fall.

However, China is still concerned about what could happen before Trump leaves office.

Some observers think the China hawks in the Trump administration may attempt to do irreversible damage to US-China relations in the coming two months.

Hu Xijin, the outspoken editor-in-chief of the state-run tabloid Global Times, believes that China wants to keep distance from the US election to “avoid getting entangled in its controversy, external.”

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Getty Images

They are waiting for a call from Antony Blinken, a former deputy secretary of state and a key player on the Biden transition team.

These veteran policymakers do not want to seem over-eager (among Democrats, that is bad form).

Still there is a catch in their voice as they discuss who will land the powerful jobs. Contenders are Blinken himself for national security advisor; Michele Flournoy, a former undersecretary of defence, for defence; and Susan Rice, a former national security adviser, for secretary of state.

One thing is clear: the White House will be filled with people who are eager to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and re-enter the nuclear deal and otherwise engage in the world.

Some progressives worry they will be too engaged, saying that if the hawkish Flournoy becomes defence secretary, she will ramp up the military’s role.

For the next few weeks, though, centrist Democrats and progressives alike will be discussing what the new cabinet will look like and what place, if any, they will have in it.

Image source, Getty Images

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just commented on the new US president-elect.

When asked whether he'd advise President Trump to concede, Johnson said it wasn't for him to remark on the ongoing election row.

He did however offer congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

"Yes, this country has had a good relationship with the White House over the last few years but it’s had a good relationship with the White House for many many years," he told reporters.

"I’ve no doubt that we will continue to have a very very strong, very close relationship with our American friends."

The PM also noted it is "very exciting" that the incoming administration have shown "their willingness to join the UK in the campaign to tackle climate change", pointing out that the UK is hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) next year.

Johnson and Biden have many common priorities: the fight against climate change; a desire for the UN-backed Iran nuclear deal, or similar, to succeed; and for Nato to be bolstered, our Europe editor Katya Adler reports. You can read more of her analysis here.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump has privately held discussions with aides about the possibility of running for president again in 2024, according to Axios, external.

The news would mark the most significant indication that Trump understands he has lost, analysts say.

Under US law, presidents can serve for two four-year terms.

If Trump, who remains intensely popular among Republicans, does choose to run again, his presence will cast a large shadow over the party's current field of up-and-comers. It would make it much harder for other Republicans to gain a foothold in the spotlight with Trump still seeking the highest office.

To remind you, Trump bested a field of 17 Republicans to become the party's presidential nominee in 2016.

One person who experts speculate could run, but who may now want to consider dropping out: Donald Trump Jr.

The president's eldest son, who is very popular among Trump's rural white supporters, has been thought to have political ambitions of his own.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump has fired US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, the Pentagon chief who Trump has occasionally feuded with behind closed doors.

In a tweet, Trump wrote that Christopher C Miller, "the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center", will becoming acting Pentagon chief effective immediately.

"Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service," he concluded.

It was reported last week by NBC that Esper had submitted a letter of resignation to the White House.

One issue in which Esper and Trump clashed was over the military's decision to rename bases named after Confederate leaders who fought against the US during the Civil War. Trump has opposed the move, but Esper has worked with Congress to craft legislation to ensure that it happens.

Read more:

Donald Trump fires defence secretary Mark Esper

Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

After positive results from the Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine trial were announced, Vice-President Mike Pence, external tweeted that the “HUGE NEWS” was “thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President Donald Trump”.

The extent of US government involvement – as part of Operation Warp Speed, its effort to speed up vaccine development – is up for debate.

Unlike the other leading candidate vaccines being produced in the US, Pfizer did not receive any upfront funding from Operation Warp Speed for research and development.This point was stressed by Pfizer’s Head of Vaccine R&D Kathrin Jensen in an interview with the New York Times, external.

“We were never part of the Warp Speed,” she said. “We have never taken any money from the US government, or from anyone.”

In July, the US government announced it would purchase a first batch of 100m doses of the vaccine, external at a cost of nearly $2bn following approval. But they’re not the only ones. Several other countries have orders for the Pfizer vaccine:

• UK: 40m doses, with 10m due before end of 2020
• Japan: 120m doses
• EU: 200m doses, possibly rising to 300m (still being negotiated)

Image source, Getty Images

Trump's Housing Secretary Ben Carson has tested positive for Covid-19. A spokesman confirmed the diagnosis on Monday.

ABC News first reported Carson's deputy chief of staff said he was "in good spirits" and has access to "effective therapeutics".

Carson was among those who attended the president's election night party at the White House. So too did Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, who tested positive last week.

There have been a series of outbreaks in the West Wing since the president's own diagnosis last month.

The US currently has confirmed nearly 10 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Image source, Reuters

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

On his second full day as US president-elect, Joe Biden had a simple message for the American people: Wear a mask. It may be a "small act", he said, but it would save lives and help see the nation through what could be a "very dark winter" of rising Covid-19 cases and fatalities.

Biden’s statements came as he unveiled his coronavirus task force, comprised of a number of leading public-health experts who have spent much of this year criticising the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic from the sidelines.With his encouragement of mask-wearing, Biden is already striking a sharp contrast to the current president, who has offered mixed messaging on the usefulness of the practice.

And on a day with good news about progress on a coronavirus vaccine, which is being heralded by Donald Trump and his supporters, Biden has offered words of caution that there is still much work to be done before the outbreak is controlled.

That Biden chose addressing the pandemic as the first public event for his new transition team suggests he recognises that this will be the biggest issue he faces in the early days of the presidency.

It also afforded him an opportunity to look and act like a man who will soon be president, despite Donald Trump’s decision to challenge the results of last week’s election and not concede defeat.

"We can rebuild our economy back better than it was before. We can address race-based disparities," Biden continues. "It's in our power. So let's wear a mask. Let's get to work."

With that, the president-elect's brief speech concludes. He did not take questions from reporters.

Trump has yet to concede the election to Biden - but work is already under way to prepare for a transition.

Biden gave his acceptance speech on Saturday night and has begun looking into who to tap for future cabinet roles. He will have just under three months to assemble a cabinet, determine policy priorities and prepare to govern a nation facing numerous crises and sharply divided along partisan lines.

The president-elect says vaccine deployment efforts will first focus on the most vulnerable people.

Biden emphasises that minority communities are being hit harder than white communities, and these groups will not be an after thought to his administration.

"The bottom line, I will spare no effort to turn this pandemic around once we're sworn in on 20 January."

He adds: "We'll follow the science...we'll listen and work in co-operation with governors and local leaders of both parties."

Biden continues to repeat his campaign promises of unity - and says "this election is over".

"It's time to put aside the partisanship and the rhetoric designed to demonise one another," he says.

"It's time to end the politicisation of basic responsible public health steps like mask-wearing and social distancing. We have to come together to heal the soul of this country so we can effectively address this crisis."

He says "tens of thousands of lives" can be saved if everyone just wears a mask.

"Maybe it saves your life. So please, I implore you, wear a mask. Do it for yourself, do it for your neighbour. A mask is not a political statement."

He says masks are the quickest way "back to normal".

Biden says the vaccine development process must be transparent so Americans can have confidence in the Covid-19 vaccine. He notes it won't be available for many months yet.

"The challenge before us right now is still immense and growing. Although I'm not in office yet I'm just laying out what we expect to do and hope some of it can be done between now and the time I'm sworn in."

He adds that "there's a need for bold action" as cases, hospitalisations and deaths are all going up.

"Projections still indicate we could lose 200,000 more lives in the coming months before a vaccine can be made widely available."

These comments contrast with Trump's previous remarks on the Covid-19 vaccine. Trump had said in September: "We're going to have a vaccine very soon, maybe even before" the 3 November election.

In his speech, Biden adds that Americans cannot forgo the work now to combat the "worst wave" of the pandemic.

Of his new Covid-19 panel, who he met with earlier, he says the group will advise on detailed plans and help with contact tracers and vaccine development and deployment.

President-elect Joe Biden is speaking now, following his Covid-19 briefing. You can watch his remarks live on our video player above - we'll also bring you updates as they happen.

Pratik Jakhar
East Asia specialist, BBC Monitoring

Image source, KCNA/via REUTERS

As countries around the world rush to congratulate Joe Biden, there has been no official statement or media reporting on the US election results from North Korea.

North Korean state media such as the Rodong Sinmun daily, Korean Central News Agency, as well as other propaganda outlets have stayed mum on Biden's victory – focusing instead on Covid-19, cement production and self-reliance in today's coverage.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un today sent a congratulatory message to the Cambodian king on the country's independence anniversary.

But this is not unusual. In the past, state media have been slow to respond to the US election results.

When Donald Trump won the 2016 election, Rodong Sinmun reported on it two days later but called it as the "new administration" without naming Trump. In 2012, North Korea indirectly mentioned Barack Obama's re-election in an article four days later while discussing his "strategic patience" policy.

North Korea watchers say the country would like to have seen Trump being re-elected, as Biden has been critical of Pyongyang, even calling Kim Jong-un a "thug". Biden's newly launched transition website has omitted North Korea, external among its key priorities, raising questions about Pyongyang's importance to the new US administration.

"The North appears to be staying silent in consideration of the friendly relationship it developed with Trump and is also likely waiting for Biden's election to be confirmed, as well as exploring how its allies China and Russia respond to the results," Yang Moo-jin, a professor in South Korea, told Yonhap News Agency., external

But some analysts worry that Kim might test the Biden administration with a missile launch.

You can read more about which world leaders haven't congratulated Biden yet - and why - here.

Image source, CBS

We mentioned earlier that Joe Biden is getting a briefing from his newly-appointed Covid-19 advisory board.

These picture have just come in of the president-elect receiving the update via Zoom from a group of scientists, doctors and public health experts.

You'll notice the vice-president-elect Kamala Harris there too - on the opposite end of the stage. Clearly the two have decided to maintain social distancing during the briefing.

When the briefing is over Biden will deliver a speech to the public too - we'll be bringing you the details when we have them.

Image source, CBS

Image source, Getty Images

Northern Ireland peer Lord Kilclooney has come under fire for a tweet referring to US vice-president-elect Kamala Harris as “the Indian”.

Ms Harris, who, of course, is American, has an Indian-born mother and Jamaican-born father.

Lord Kilclooney posted on Twitter: “What happens if Biden moves on and the Indian becomes President. Who then becomes Vice President?”

A number of MPs have said the tweet was “racist” and it “beggars belief”.

When challenged, Lord Kilclooney claimed he had not known the name of the vice-president-elect when he was tweeting.

Lord Kilclooney is no stranger to controversy - in 2018, he called the then taoiseach (Irish PM) Leo Varadkar a "typical Indian", which he later described as a mistake.

Ms Harris has faced racist remarks in the past. One study, external found that a quarter of the media coverage after Ms Harris' nomination as vice-presidential candidate included "racist and sexist stereotyping and tropes", including the "angry black woman" trope, and "birther" conspiracies that implied she was not born in the US.

Read more on this story here

Image source, Getty Images

We're hearing that President-elect Joe Biden will be speaking publicly later on Monday - it's estimated to happen around 11:30E (16:30 UK time), although the exact timings could still change.

Before his remarks, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will receive a briefing in Wilmington, Delaware from their transition COVID-19 advisory board - Biden announced details of its membership earlier.

So far President Donald Trump has not announced any plans to speak on Monday. His last official engagement was on Thursday.

Last week's election may already seem like a lifetime ago but some states still have not been projected, so be sure to keep following our election results' page. See all the charts and graphs here

At present President-elect Biden has reached 279 electoral college votes taking him past the 270 needed to win. Donald Trump has 214.

Biden’s win in Pennsylvania, Wisonsin and Michigan means he has started to rebuild the Midwestern "blue wall" - a previously Democratic region, which President Trump dismantled in 2016.