Visitors to hospitals around Northumberland and North Tyneside - including the Northumbria Specialist and Emergency Care Hospital (NSECH) in Cramlington are now able to book slots to see their loved ones once again.
The hospitals, managed by the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust across the region, all enforced tight restrictions as Omicron caused Covid cases to spike.
But now, with community transmission of the dominant Covid variant having fallen, hospital bosses are reverting back to the measures in place in late 2021.
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That means that patients at the Trust's hospitals are allowed one named visitor who must provide evidence of a negative lateral flow test before entering the hospital.
Visitors must pre-book slots as each ward can only have three visitors at a time.
This is the case for "most wards", but the Trust has emphasised that "it is important to check with individual wards for their local arrangements as the situation can be changeable".
Marion Dickson, the trust’s executive director for nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals, said: "The safety of our patients and staff is always our top priority and infection prevention and control is a vital part of that, which is why we reluctantly had to limit visiting further last month.
"However, we also recognise how important it is for patients to have contact with their loved ones, which is why we said we would review the situation on a regular basis.
"We believe we are at a point now where we are in a more positive direction of travel in relation to the Omicron wave of Covid-19, as evidenced by community transmission rates, admissions to our hospitals and our staff absence rates."
Ms Dickson also highlighted that facemasks, handwashing and social distancing remains essential in healthcare settings.
