Hubei province will lower its emergency response to the novel coronavirus outbreak from the top level to the second level starting Saturday.

The decision was made after the once hardest-hit Chinese province had seen no confirmed cases of COVID-19 for 27 consecutive days, Yang Yunyan, vice-governor of the province, said at a news conference on Friday.

A total of 82,874 infections had been reported on the Chinese mainland as of Thursday, with 4,633 deaths. Among them, Hubei province registered 68,128 infections and 4,512 deaths, according to the National Health Commission.

However, with the arduous efforts from the government, medical staff and the general public, the outbreak has been contained in Hubei and all COVID-19 patients have been discharged.

The central leadership said on Wednesday that China has secured a decisive outcome in containing the spread of COVID-19 in Hubei and its capital city of Wuhan.

Yang said the province now has enough medical resources, testing and prevention and control equipment to deal with any emergency, and government and public epidemic prevention and control capability and awareness have been greatly imporved.

He said the lowering of the emergency response will lead to adjustments of prevention and control measures, and the reopening of schools and resumption of work and production will be advanced in an orderly manner.

However, although the response level is to be lowered, the province will maintain the same level of vigilance and prepare for long-term epidemic prevention and control efforts.

"Under no circumstances can we allow the hard-won outcome take a turn for the worse," Yang said.

People are encouraged to avoid mass gatherings and indoor recreational facilities will remain closed, he said.

Public places such as shopping malls, bookstores and restaurants should control the number of customers, conduct frequent disinfection and temperature checks and encourage people to wear masks, he said.

They can refuse entry to people who do not wear masks or refuse to have their temperature checked, he added.