St. Luke’s Boise/Meridian Medical Centers and the Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center are lifting most visitation restrictions related to the H1N1 (swine flu) virus.

Effective Friday, Nov. 20, most units in the hospitals will return to standard visitation rules.

Hospitals spokespeople say the only exception will be in the newborn intensive care (NICU) where flu-season restrictions remain in effect. Visitation to those units is limited to parents and grandparents of patients.

Hospital officials decided to make the change after seeing a significant decline in the number of people seeking treatment for the H1N1 flu virus as well as the increased availability of H1N1 vaccines in the community.

Hospital officials, however, say they will closely monitor the number of flu cases and if there is an increase, the previous restrictions may be reinstated.