A fourth nationwide exercise to distribute reusable masks is under way to help people protect themselves against Covid-19.

The initiative by Temasek Foundation, the social and charity arm of Singapore investment firm Temasek, will provide Singapore residents with two reusable masks each. The exercise began yesterday.

The masks can be collected from vending machines by scanning the barcode of an NRIC, a school smartcard, birth certificate, foreign identification card or any government-issued identification with a barcode.

Domestic helpers and workers on work passes will also be able to collect the masks. Toddlers and children up to 12 years old are eligible for kid-size masks.

Residents may collect the masks on behalf of their family members and friends by bringing along the government-issued IDs of those they are assisting and scanning the barcodes.

The collection of masks will span a two-week period until Oct 4.

Temasek chief executive and executive director Ho Ching announced the exercise on Facebook on Sept 9. She said there were ample supplies of white cloth masks, and urged people to collect their masks after the first three days to avoid crowds.

Mask vending machines were operating as early as 9.10am yesterday when The Straits Times visited the Tampines Ville Residents' Committee centre. Queues were absent at collection points at Tampines Arcadia RC and Our Tampines Hub.

Members of the public may visit https://mask.stayprepared.sg to find out the locations of vending machines for different mask types, as well as the availability of stocks.

A previous round of mask distribution was conducted in June and July through some 1,200 vending machines at bus interchanges, community centres/clubs and residents' committee centres.

This year's National Day packs also contained face masks which people said were practical and gave the annual pack a much more functional purpose.