Two days earlier the city’s party chief Wang Zhonglin triggered an angry backlash online after proposing an “extensive gratitude education campaign”.

Wang made the suggestion during a meeting to discuss the outbreak on Friday, according to Changjiang River Daily, a newspaper affiliated with the municipal party committee.

“[We must] be grateful for the general secretary [Xi] and the Communist Party,” he said. “[We must] listen to the party, follow the party.”

Wang’s remarks caused an uproar. Chinese internet users were furious that Wang expected the people to be grateful as they have paid a heavy price for the complete lockdown of the city, where the coronavirus that causes the disease was first identified.

No time to relax in Wuhan’s coronavirus battle, top Chinese law enforcer says

“The government should put an end to its arrogance and humbly express gratitude to its master – millions of people in Wuhan,” wrote Fang Fang, a Wuhan-based writer, in a widely circulated article first published on WeChat.

In the face of mounting public anger, Chinese news outlets have deleted most of the coverage of Wang’s remarks, which can still be viewed on cached web pages.

Changjiang River Daily, which first reported the suggestion, has now removed its online version of the report.

Wang also joined Ying in praising the public’s role in fighting the outbreak.

“It is with the help of the efforts of all that Wuhan’s bid to control the pandemic has seen some positive signs,” he told state media.

“The municipal party committee and government expressed its sincere gratitude to everyone for their efforts and contribution.”

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Beijing has tried to control the public narrative surrounding the disease, which has now infected more than 109,000 around the world and claimed over 3,800 lives.

During an inspection tour in Beijing last month, Xi called on officials to strengthen “guidance of public opinion”, and to focus on the Communist Party’s care for Wuhan and Hubei province.

But practices from Beijing’s old propaganda playbook have triggered a rare public backlash in the past two months, forcing publicity campaigns to put a positive spinon the party’s efforts to be aborted.

Over the weekend, the number of daily new cases recorded nationwide fell to double-digit numbers, with the number of cases outside Hubei falling to single figures.

But Wuhan, the provincial capital, has remained in complete lockdown since January 23, with most the city’s residents still banned from leaving their homes.

Bruce Aylward, head of a World Health Organisation team that visited China in February, has said the world is “in debt” to Wuhan.

“The people of that city have gone through an extraordinary period and they’re still going through it,” he said after his visit.