A leading official of the virus-hit city of Wuhan said he believed the discrimination against Wuhan residents in other regions of the country is "very rare phenomenon".

As the majority of the novel coronavirus infections are reported in Wuhan, there have been some reports that Wuhan people who had left the city prior to the lockdown are unwelcomed in other parts of the country. There are reports of banners that urge people to report to authorities those from Wuhan.

"I believe the extreme case is very rare, " Ma Guoqiang, Party chief of Wuhan, said at a news conference on Tuesday night. "Most people are very kind to Wuhan people." 

He also called on Wuhan people to show some understandings toward the feeling that people in other regions may want them to be quarantined, and they should voluntarily receive quarantine.

"It's for people of China and even the world," Ma said.

He said the case is similar that during the outbreak of SARS in 2003 when people wanted to stay away from those from Guangdong province, then the epicenter of the outbreak.