Despite the positive signs, state news agency Xinhua underlined a warning from the Communist Party’s top decision-making body against complacency.

“The turning point of the containment has not yet arrived, and prevention and control efforts in Hubei and Wuhan remain difficult and complex,” a commentary published by Xinhua on Sunday said.

“There are still many people who need treatment. The path of the virus’s transmission is not fully understood yet.

“Containing the outbreak remains the priority of priorities. We won’t allow casual gatherings and work to resume without meeting certain requirements.”

State broadcaster CCTV also warned the public against holding gatherings.

Strict controls on movement have been imposed across much of the country, particularly in Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic.

Despite the warnings, some people have been venturing out of their home.

In Guangyuan in the southwestern province of Sichuan, thousands of people – many not wearing masks – went to Lizhou Square on Friday as tea vendors reopened for business, according to footage widely shared on social media.

“The square was a sea of people, full of heads,” the person filming the scene said in the video.

The video spawned a popular social media hashtag – “Guangyuan people take off masks and gather to drink tea” – but city authorities soon intervened and banned such gatherings, asking people to remain 1.5 metres apart.

Some internet users were also upset by the mass public gathering.

“What are you doing? Not scared to die? The government didn’t oversee this? Don’t waste all previous efforts!” one commenter said online.

Guangyuan authorities said on Sunday that a number of local officials responsible for overseeing the square were disciplined for not discouraging the customers.

In Guangzhou, in the southern province of Guangdong, customers made the most of an easing in restrictions and lined up outside a restaurant people for the chance to dine in on Friday.

The city had previously only allowed takeaway orders.

Residents also left their homes to head out to Fragrant Hills Park in suburban Beijing and to queue for spicy soup – a traditional breakfast food – in Zhengzhou on Sunday.

Amid the flurry of outdoor activity, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a nationalistic newspaper in the People’s Daily stable, urged people to think twice about leaving home.

“Please remember that the situation in Hubei is still serious and don’t think the epidemic is over. It’s far from that. Be responsible for you and your family,” Hu wrote on his microblog account.

“The local government shouldn’t misunderstand the call from the central government to resume work and production. It’s not meant to encourage people to resume gathering immediately.”

Jiang Yitong, 34, works in Guangzhou but has been stranded in her hometown of Anshan in northeastern China for weeks.

Jiang said she had not been able to leave the house to meet her old friends and was beginning to “feel mouldy” cooped up inside.

Still, she was shocked to see so many people together in the Guangyuan square.

“I wouldn’t go line up outside a restaurant or drink tea in a square. I will never risk my health and that of others,” Jiang said.