Part 2 suggests that there would be a repulsive force between virtual particles and antiparticles that would cause them to escape from each other, thus becoming real particles of matter and antimatter.

Obviously, this would be very different from the scenario in which matter and antimatter virtual particles annihilate almost as soon as they are formed. Would this not play havoc with conservation laws?

Isn’t this continuous “creation” of matter and antimatter reminiscent of the steady state Universe?

There never was nothing.