Employees and visitors with official transactions at the offices at the Provincial Capitol are required to present a SafePass Quick Response (QR) code upon entry and exit at the building lobby starting November 25.

To avoid unnecessary delay, visitors have been advised to download their QR codes before going to the Capitol.

There are three ways to get a personal QR code – via Facebook Messenger by registering to the SafePass portal; by visiting the website request.safp.as and typing one’s personal number; or via text for smartphone users by typing GETQR and sending to 2256722 for free.

The employee or visitor will receive a link to his QR through his personal phone. He should then click the link and download or screenshot the code sent by the SafePass app.

“As we continue to strategize to contain the further spread of the virus, we ask for your continued support and understanding,” Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc said in his Tuesday evening public advisory posted on the Facebook page of the provincial government of Ilocos Norte.

As of Tuesday, five more employees of the Ilocos Norte provincial jail tested positive for Covid-19.

They are among the seven new cases that were reported to be asymptomatic and have been exposed to previously infected persons.

Five new cases are from Laoag City and the other two are town residents of Bacarra and Carasi.

Since November 20, the provincial government has remained on a skeletal workforce due to an increasing number of Capitol employees and their families being infected with the virus.

For faster contact tracing purposes, the provincial government has also published more Covid-19 hotline numbers for each city and municipality, including the Ilocos Norte Covid-19 Center based at the Capitol.

These numbers are open round the clock to address all emergency concerns from the public.

As of this writing, Ilocos Norte has recorded a total of 156 recoveries out of the 212 cases, with two deaths. (PNA)