You're right on. This is all well documented.

The absolute latest it was released is certainly October 2019. It could have been released before that.

It was pretty clearly let go from Wuhan Institute of Virology. This is a multinational virology research hub.

It is a 'gain of function' virus designed to spread fast. It was specifically designed to jump to humans for virology testing. It was in fact produced from a number of horseshoe bats - that part is true. It probably wasn't designed for the sole purpose of being a weapon, the documentation shows it was just a risky virology experiment - but what's the difference to the average person?

It got out.

Everything (from the way it is being handled onward) seems to make no sense because the initial story that they stick to is a lie.

I have to assume they are in a panic because they have an actual bioweapon on the loose and they aren't quite sure what to do to control it. They want to try to limit its mutations as much as possible.