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UPDATE on Aug. 19, 3pm: This article has been updated to include details from a Temasek Foundation media release dated Aug. 19, 2021.

On Jul. 7, 2021, Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching announced that disposable medical-grade surgical masks and N95 masks will be distributed after National Day as part of the upcoming Stay Prepared exercise.

Stay Prepared is a Temasek Foundation initiative that helps prepare communities for emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Redemption

According to the press release by Temasek Foundation, each household will be able to redeem 50 medical-grade surgical masks and 25 N95 respirator masks.

Residents can redeem their free masks from Aug. 26 to Sep. 26, 2021.

They will need their physical Singapore Power (SP) residential bill or online SP residential bill on SP Utilities app for scanning or the SP residential account number for manual validation.

Residents may also collect the masks on behalf of others by bringing along their SP residential bills with the account barcode or SP account numbers if they have been authorised to do so.

Redemptions will be conducted at over 130 collection points island-wide, including 15 CapitaLand malls and selected Sheng Siong, Prime Supermarket, Cold Storage, FairPrice Xtra, and Giant outlets.

Click here to check your nearest collection points, the collection hours, and stock levels.

Residents can pre-queue via a digital queue system at the following 11 malls:

• Bedok Mall
• Bugis Junction
• Bukit Panjang Plaza
• Funan
• IMM
• JCube
• Junction 8
• Lot One
• Plaza Singapura
• Tampines Mall
• Westgate

This system allows residents to check the queue length before heading down and receive notifications when it is their turn to collect.

Residents are reminded to bring their own bags to carry the free masks as no bags will be provided at collection points.

For hygiene reasons, returns or exchanges of the masks will not be allowed.

For more information, click here or phone the hotline at 1800-738-2000 (from 9am to 9pm, daily, excluding public holidays).

When to use the masks

Medical grade surgical masks are top grade surgical masks with a Particle Filtration Efficiency (PFE) of at least 95 per cent.

Boasting the same PFE, N95 masks are worn during high-risk jobs, such as caring for Covid-19 patients or swabbing operations.

Temasek Foundation recommends those with flu-like symptoms to wear a medical grade surgical mask to see a doctor.

A medical grade mask, preferably a higher grade one like N95 mask, is recommended for those who:

• are visiting a doctor for their confirmatory Covid-19 test after testing positive with an Antigen Rapid Test (ART) kit
• have symptoms with a negative ART result or waiting for their test result

Visitors to hospitals or nursing homes should wear a medical grade surgical mask.

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Top images by Temasek Foundation.