Harris County, including the city of Houston, confirmed 224 new cases of COVID-19 on May 19 and is now nearing the 10,000 total case mark.

The county has confirmed a total of 9,859 total cases, 3,803 of which are have recovered. A total of 207 people have died of the coronavirus in Harris County after two more deaths were added May 19—a female in her 80s and a male in his 40s. The death rate among known cases is about 2.1% in the county.

Active cases continue to increase and now sit at 5,849 cases, up from 5,020 cases a week ago. The county's hospitals had 618 COVID-19 patients as of May 18, according to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council. The COVID-19 hospital census has remained relatively flat in Harris County throughout May.

Another 4,427 tests were conducted in the county May 18, including by both public and private labs, according to data being compiled by the Texas Department of State Health Services. A total of 119,690 tests have been conducted in Harris County so far.

The county averaged about 4,700 tests per day between May 12-18 while confirming an average of 208 new cases per day over that time.