ANKARA

Officials in Kenya confirmed 11 coronavirus-related deaths and 156 infections Friday on the first day of 2021.

The new deaths bring total fatalities from the novel virus to 1,681, the health ministry said.

The infections --142 Kenyans and 14 foreigners – were from a sample size of 4,317, “bringing to 96,614 the number of confirmed positive cases in the country,” according to the ministry.

The number of COVID-19 tests conducted stands at 1,050,984 in a population of more than 53,771,000.

The ministry also confirmed 65 recoveries from the virus, bringing that number to 78,802.

The virus has claimed more than 1.8 million lives in 191 countries and regions since first being detected in Wuhan, China last December, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

More than 83.8 million people have been infected.