He did not create it but He did allow it and there is a major difference. The Father’s ways are not our ways and any god that you can logically or emotionally completely understand is not in reality God at all. We know through scripture that He tempts no one with evil and that He hates sin because of the pain it causes.
Has God in the past and will He again in the future use pandemics as a judgement on a nation or the world? Absolutely, no one can read the bible and reach any other conclusion. If that is true, then the most important question is why would He do that?
God is holy, just and loving and therefore cannot overlook sin. If a judge released a serial rapist without any penalty for his heinous acts, you would not think that he or she had fulfilled their responsibility as a judge. In that case, the punishment is appropriate and also a deterrent at the same time.
The Father takes no joy in the death of the wicked and their eternal separation from Him. Because He is merciful, gracious, forgiving and loving; He will use COVID-19 to remind His children of what is really important in life. He will also use it in a redemptive way to once again reveal Himself to a world that is seeking meaning for life in all the wrong places.
Faith is the belief that God is able to do all things that He promised in the scriptures. Trust on the other hand believes that all that He does is good. He will allow some death and use it to bring even more life.
There are 5 major acts in the grand drama of the human experience: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration and Glorification. The fall is on us because we believed the lie that God cannot be trusted. Redemption, restoration and ultimate glorification is all on Him. He did not get us into this pandemic but for those who trust Him, He will surely get us out.