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Chinese officials hailed recent figures as evidence that the spread of the coronavirus epidemic has slowed, and World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday that China’s strict limits on its people’s movements have helped. But the outbreak and its death toll continue to grow. The picture outside China has grown steadily more alarming. And experts caution against excessive optimism about the crisis peaking. “It could be unwise for anybody in China, or outside China, to be complacent that this is coming under control at this point in time,” said Prof. Malik Peiris, chief of virology at the University of Hong Kong. (Wang, 2/18)

On Tuesday, China’s National Health Commission reported 1,886 new confirmed coronavirus cases in mainland China on Monday, the first time the daily tally has fallen below 2,000 since the beginning of the month. The daily number of confirmed cases outside Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, also fell to below 100 for the first time this month, while the number of new deaths across mainland China—98 on Monday, all but five of them in Hubei—fell to less than 100 for the first time in nearly a week. (Cheng, 2/18)

Protective suit-clad inspectors in the epicenter of China's viral outbreak went door-to-door Wednesday to find every infected person in the central city suffering most from an epidemic that is showing signs of waning as new cases fell for a second day. Wuhan, where the new form of coronavirus emerged, is on the final day of a campaign to root out anyone with symptoms whom authorities may have missed so far. (Wang, 2/18)

Hospitals in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei Province have been making urgent pleas to the Chinese people for three weeks as the new coronavirus ripples through the country: Send more protective gear. Supplies are close — and yet frustratingly out of reach. Medical supplies donated to the Red Cross Society of China’s Wuhan branch sit in warehouses. Individuals who try to organize relief supplies face violating the country’s strict charity law. (Yuan, 2/18)

China’s technology titans are deploying health-rating systems to help authorities track the movement of millions of Chinese who are preparing to resume work at factories and other businesses, adding a new and controversial tool in the country’s battle to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak. China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported this week that the country’s cabinet, the State Council, had instructed Alibaba Group Ltd. affiliate Ant Financial Services Group to explore the nationwide rollout of a rating app to help governments control which people can travel into and around the city during the Covid-19 outbreak. (Lin, 2/18)

“It’s like World War III,” said May Tang, an employee at the Kit Pharm Dispensary Ltd. in Hong Kong. As panic over the coronavirus outbreak has swept across the city, residents have taken to waiting in line for hours to buy face masks, disinfectant and even toilet paper from places like Kit Pharm in North Point. And Ms. Tang, a friendly woman with tinted hair, has witnessed the hysteria first hand. (Kwai, 2/18)

To celebrate Christmas one year, Jing Sun trekked to the North Pole to see reindeer. For another holiday, the Shenzhen native flew to Marrakesh, and she was recently in Cleveland for work. Los Angeles, New York and Barcelona were on her spring itinerary, while her maiden Australia voyage was penciled in. Suddenly, the 29-year-old is grounded in Beijing. (Areddy, 2/18)

China revoked the press credentials of three Wall Street Journal reporters based in Beijing, the first time in the post-Mao era that the Chinese government has expelled multiple journalists from one international news organization at the same time. China’s Foreign Ministry said the move Wednesday was punishment for a recent opinion piece published by the Journal. (2/19)

Deputy Bureau Chief Josh Chin and reporter Chao Deng, both American citizens, as well as reporter Philip Wen, an Australian national, have been ordered to leave the country within five days, the Journal reported. The paper did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The Foreign Ministry has been repeatedly criticizing the Journal since it published a coronavirus-related column on Feb 3. by Walter Russell Mead, a professor at Bard College, under the headline “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia.” The title is a reference to the time at the beginning of the 20th century when a weak China was carved up by colonial powers. (Fifield, 2/19)

Chinese authorities have increasingly used visa restrictions to show displeasure with or exert pressure over foreign media in China. Numerous foreign journalists have been placed on short-term visas instead of the standard one-year visa. But it is highly unusual for an international journalist to be expelled from the country. (Westcott and Jiang, 2/19)