SINGAPORE - About 600 households in rental flats and senior studio apartments in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC received their haze and dengue preparation packs on Sunday.

Besides Pasir Ris, needy residents living in seven other areas including Toa Payoh, Zhenghua and Hougang will also receive their packages.

WeCare Packs, as they are called, contain items such as N95 masks, lozenges and eye wash, and non-perishable food items such as instant noodles, canned sardines and baked beans, the People's Association said in a press release. They are given to needy Singaporeans as part of a nationwide campaign launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last month.

So far, more than 12,000 households have received their WeCare Packs which could last them for at least three days. When the campaign ends on July 20, about 26,000 residents - mostly elderly folk living alone - will be equipped with a WeCare Pack.

On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister and Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Teo Chee Hean led 80 grassroots volunteers in packing items for the relief packages at Pasir Ris Elias Community Centre before they set off for their house visits. He was joined by fellow MPs Zainal Sapari, Janil Puthucheary and Gan Thiam Poh.

This campaign, in its second year, was launched as a response to the haze crisis Singapore faced last year.