I dont think the short interest is based on anything fundamental.
There were 13.0m shares transferred as security for loans in July this year:
* On 9/07/21 Julian Challingsworth transferred 7.0m shares as security for a loan.
* On 16/07/21 Kurt Hansen transferred 6.0m shares as security for a loan.
The custodian will typically short the shares to partly hedge out their position.
The rise in short interest from mid-July reconciles with this event.
So as the share price falls, the custodian with short more stock in order to balance the books from a risk perspective.
For now, this is self fulfilling until there is a positive catalyst to get the share price moving higher.
And it works both ways - as the share price rises, the custodian will need less collateral and effectively cover the short position.
Thats my interpretation of this situation, for what ts worth.