I believe that it was engineered in a Chinese bioweapons lab for domestic use. China needs to be rid of a quarter billion people; this disease is highly communicable but kills mostly the elderly and medically compromised (the useless eaters). It got loose before the planned time, and in the process showed all the bad actors of the world that our economy is vulnerable to a bio attack.
I’m not so sure it got loose off schedule.
China had to get the Hong Kong issue out of the news cycle.
China had to keep the Taiwan issue from popping back into the new cycle.
The CCP desperately needed something to blame their impending economic collapse on.
China desperately wants to prevent Trump from being re-elected.
China desperately needed the trade negotiations stalled for as long as possible.
All that points to now being the time.