KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — Temperature scans and check-ins in the form of logbook registrations before entering premises will no longer be mandatory from Friday (February 11), the Defence Ministry announced today.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, however, said that check-ins via the MySejahtera app are still mandatory for the purposes of Covid-19 contact tracing.

"However, if premises owners still wish to continue practising the standard operating procedures (SOP) for temperature inspection and logbook registrations, the government both welcomes and encourages it,” he said in a statement today.

Last month, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that mandatory temperature screening for entry into premises would be removed from the country’s Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP).

He also said the ministry would be proposing another amendment to the SOPs to do away with the use of logbooks as an option for visitors to register when they enter a location.

Last year, the Malaysia Shopping Mall Association lamented that its best efforts to safeguard mall patrons by doing away with the use of logbooks had resulted in some being unwittingly penalised by authorities.

The association had said that some malls did not use the logbooks as they provided a loophole for unverified shoppers to gain entry into the premises without having to prove their health status.