Very true indeed, a big lie. Tds excuse tho::/
I wouldn't trust the Chinese government at all, but I have family living in Shanghai and they've told me that they shut down hard when there's even one case. I'm from Australia where lockdowns have been the norm to contain the virus, but they shutdown within a few hours over there, not in 24 hours like we do here. Unfortunately cases in Guangzhou shut the city down hard (delayed my packages too).
Not sure if this would affect the factories operating but it might have as everyone's supposed to stay home when they're in hard lockdown unless you've got permission to work due to being in an essential industry. According to my relatives there they were compensated for not working when Shanghai shutdown and if they worked in an essential industry then they got a permit, so there' a slight possibility that these factories may have been raided for actually working when they should've been home.
Just a possibility. Makes no sense that shopping malls selling 100% fake goods and dhgate are operational but small rep watch factories are targeted.