Good question!… First of all, I don’t know.
The above question is asked about any bad thing that happens in life. But our response as Christians must always start from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This tells us that – whatever bad thing is happening – we have a God who gets involved in our suffering and that of the world. The Son of God became our flesh and blood brother, lived our life, suffered like us, and died our death in the horrific form of crucifixion, because of His love for the world (Jn 3:16).
He is the same God now, and He is present with us in the power of the Holy Spirit and dwells within us (Jn 1:4,14, 14:20). This means that He goes through our suffering and pain with us, and we are not on our own dealing with it. He is also with us in great grace, to lift us up, provide for us, carry us, and to heal us and society. We can look to Him, pray to Him and trust Him absolutely in that, and to lead us through, and end, the Coronavirus.
Our not knowing the answer to the question above doesn’t mean that there isn’t an answer. It’s just that we don’t know what it is, and quite possibly can’t know it – God’s wisdom is much bigger than ours! However, as Christ taught, the interruptions to our lives and world through suffering tell us that the only truly lasting things are God and His Word and that everything else depends upon them, and ultimately we must recognise this (Mt 24:23-35).
And considering the limitless love and grace of God towards us, there is no better place that we could be!
Grace and cheers, Jonathan.