PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Inbound travellers to Malaysia from Monday (Aug 1) will no longer have to fill in the Traveller's Card on the country's MySejahtera app.

The MySejahtera app is akin to Singapore's TraceTogether app.

Malaysian immigration officials at airports currently check the MySejahtera app on travellers' mobile phones to ensure they have declared their health status in the electronic Traveller's Card form before allowing them into the country.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the relaxation of this rule is aimed at simplifying the entry procedure for travellers to Malaysia, due to the current state of the health system, which is at a good and controlled level.

"The Health Ministry will always increase the activity of monitoring internal symptoms among travellers at all international points of entry into Malaysia," said Mr Khairy in a statement on Saturday (July 30).

On arrival, if the traveller is detected to have a fever through the thermal scanner or found to be unwell, they will be referred for re-examination by the health department, he said.

After a health assessment is made and if there is a case of suspected illness due to infectious diseases such as Covid-19, monkeypox, Mers-CoV or others, the traveller will be referred to a nearby health facility for further check-up and treatment.

"Accordingly, all newly arrived travellers from abroad must practice self-health status monitoring, comply with the set standard operating procedures and are advised to go to a nearby health facility for examination if unwell," said Mr Khairy.