You are right that scientific issues are often politicized, and that was the case with the border closure.
In my view, the purpose of closing the border is to protect us, especially in the case of the U.S. border. However, as you already know, the WHO says that it is almost useless, and the minister said that it is useless, but I disagree.
I know that, after the disaster we are now experiencing, we will rethink these issues. In Africa, for example, the borders between countries were quickly closed. They learned that lesson from the Ebola crisis. Now we see that nations are more protected. The infection rate in Kenya and Rwanda, for example, is lower than it would normally be. So it works.