The possibility had been predicted by many over the last decades at least.

By its nature however, mere predictions don't get a whole lot of news.

This bet is from 2017: “A bioterror or bioerror will lead to one million casualties in a single event within a six month period starting no later than Dec 31 02020.”

Discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25368379

Moreover, the possibility was well canvassed by those intimately connected with the sars2 outbreak, e.g. Peter Daszak.