MMA president Dr Koh Kar Chai said he believed it was no longer relevant to require anyone entering a public area to get his or her body temperature checked.

He said it was not right to place the burden of looking for Covid-19 symptoms on gatekeepers like security guards as they were not healthcare professionals.

“Even doctors have to rely on testing to diagnose Covid-19 due to the presence of people with mild or even no symptoms,” he told FMT.

“Most stores have invested in digital thermometers. It doesn’t hurt to still have them around but it should not be made compulsory as part of the SOPs. In any case, many of these thermometers aren’t even accurate.

“Do away with temperature checks as they are not really useful in screening positive Covid-19 cases. Instead, face masks, physical distancing, hand sanitising and proper ventilation should be emphasised.”

He also said people could run high temperatures due to an ordinary fever or an infection other than Covid-19 and it would be unfair to make them go through the ritual.

Koh’s position received the backing of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia.

Its president, Dr Steven Chow, asked how many Covid-19 cases the health ministry had detected in the two years since temperature checking had been in place.

He told FMT the practice might be of “some preemptive use” for incoming travellers at international gateways, but said security staff could not be considered as medical gatekeepers.

Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said temperature checks should be taken off the general SOP list as Malaysia was no longer adopting a zero Covid-19 strategy.

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