PARIS: France reported more than 12,500 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the third day that the tally has held above 10,000, as the quick spread of the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 led to a jump in new infections.

The health ministry, however, said that the 12,532 new cases reported on Sunday, which took the total to 5.87 million, included data not published the day before.

"The daily figure published today (+12,532) should therefore not be interpreted as an exceptional increase in the number of daily cases, in a context nonetheless of strong dynamics in the evolution of the number of cases," it said in a note posted on its website. The ministry had reported 10,949 cases on Saturday and 10,908 on Friday.

France also reported 891 people in intensive care units with the new coronavirus on Sunday, up one from the previous day, while the total number of deaths in hospitals rose by five to 111,472.