Seems like it would be a reasonable precaution. Although the location in this case was (I believe) chosen specifically for its proximity to sites with bats that

Seems like it would be a reasonable precaution. Although the location in this case was (I believe) chosen specifically for its proximity to sites with bats that have lots of coronaviruses. So the decision was presumably made intentionally, for convenience, costs, and maybe so that samples could be recovered within a certain amount of time. Obviously, the virus has no problem island-hopping when scientists leave, especially if they don’t know they’re sick.