BEIJING, Jan. 14 -- The number of people seeking treatment at fever clinics in China peaked on Dec. 23, 2022 at about 2.87 million, and the figure has since been in continuous decline, a health official said on Saturday.

The number of fever patients fell to 477,000 on Jan. 12, a decrease of 83.3 percent from the peak daily figure, said Jiao Yahui, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission, at a press conference held by the State Council joint COVID-19 prevention and control mechanism.

The number of people in fever clinics or consultation rooms across the country has shown an overall downward trend since reaching its peak, in both urban and rural regions, Jiao said.

The COVID-19 detection rate at fever clinics also continues to decline, peaking at 33.9 percent on Dec. 20, 2022. The number dropped to 10.8 percent on Jan. 12, Jiao added.

People seeking treatment at general outpatient departments totaled nearly 9.14 million on Jan. 12, basically returning to the pre-epidemic level, Jiao said.

The proportion of positive COVID-19 tests among all hospital outpatients peaked at 5.7 percent on Dec. 19, 2022, and has since continued to drop, falling to 0.9 percent on Jan. 12, Jiao said.

Regular medical services at hospitals are recovering gradually, Jiao said.

Currently, about 16,400 fever clinics have been set up in medical institutions at or above the grade-two level, with approximately 43,100 fever clinics or consultation rooms established in community-based health institutions.

China has a three-tier system to grade hospitals, with tertiary hospitals -- which have the largest number of beds and provide comprehensive medical services -- at the top of the system.