Under the new guidelines, visitors need to make an appointment before they attend, the trust says.
Jonathan Coulter, the trust's chief executive apologised for any distress the "challenging" restrictions caused
Visiting restrictions at Harrogate and Ripon hospitals have been relaxed after a decline in coronavirus infection rates in the district.Visits had been restricted in December due to the increasing numbers of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant.Under the new guidelines, inpatients at Harrogate District Hospital and Ripon Community Hospital can have visits by appointment.Outpatients visiting for a hospital appointment can have one person accompany them if required.
Visitors must not have Covid-19 symptoms, have tested positive or had contact with someone who has had the infection in the last 10 days. Figures show a rate of 344 infections per 100,000 people in the Harrogate district in the week to 28 February. That has dropped from more than 1,700 infections per 100,000 people at the end of 2021.
Jonathan Coulter, the trust's chief executive, said: "We understand the positive impact that seeing a familiar, friendly face can have on a patient's recuperation, but due to the highly infectious nature of this devastating virus we needed to do all we could to prevent our patients and our staff from contracting the disease."