It does feel that even if the virus hasn't been engineered, then the panic response certainly has been. I suspect that the invisible powers-that-be, who, for so long, have been getting unbelievably rich from economic progress/growth (from the population explosion), are beginning to worry that soon there will be no planet worth inhabiting, so they are setting in place measures to check that growth, starting with global economic collapse. Let's hope this works otherwise next on the cards is the cull.