I didn't do anything special, beyond calling and talking to a couple of different CSRs (I'm a silver, so I think it just dumps over the main WP line) over the past two weeks or so, until I found someone who said they would give me a MCO if my fare was lower (and I smartly remembered to write it down, which helped I think, since she was able to see that I had called about my record on that day-- I wonder if it got documented)

As far as the baseline policy, she used the war loophole to waive the fees, then got a supervisor to allow the issue of the MCO, which are apparently in the mail.

I think it also helped that I explained that the CDC is advising restricted travel to these countries (PEK would certainly qualify).

I hope this helps. Oh, one last thing, I called at around 10AM Eastern on the day I initially posted, to maximize my chances of finding a supervisor to intervene if necessary.