This is presuming they have to cover the full volume of shorts,...

This is presuming they have to cover the full volume of shorts, so unless they unload over several weeks, and tip the market off due to the decrease in net shorts, they need to drop them all at once. We would assume in that scenario that their buy price is much higher (5$ for instance)

I don't think that's how it works myself. I presume the net shorts amount is not actually in play, only a very small percentage of that, and that smaller shorting expeditions are undertaken periodically. I think this net figure is indicated so that naked shorting can be done legally as they can say "we have this amount to cover our position if necessary"

My advice as always is don't listen to me or you will go mad.