Another 723 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Harris County on Sept. 9, along with 19 coronavirus-related deaths, according to the Harris County and Houston public health departments. A total of 223 of the new cases were reported in the city of Houston while the remaining 500 were reported in Harris County outside of the city.

The seven-day rolling average for the number of new cases confirmed each day has fallen over the past week. The average was around 668 cases per day as of Sept. 9, down from about 1,001 cases per day as of Sept. 2.

A drop in new daily cases has also been reported by the Texas Medical Center, which is tracking that data point across the nine-county Greater Houston area. A total of 851 new cases were confirmed as of the most recent update Sept. 7, compared to a little over 1,100 new cases one week prior. TMC officials said the Houston area needs to keep the daily new case total under 200 for two consecutive weeks to demonstrate community control of the virus.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Harris County hospitals was at 705 on Sept. 9, down from 826 on Sept. 2, according to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council. The number of patients in intensive care units has steadily fallen over that time. The count in general wards is also down, though it has risen slightly over the past three days.

The total case count in the county now stands at 112,762, with 14,000 active cases, 97,270 recovered cases and 1,490 deaths.