Grampians Health Ballarat has confirmed it will maintain existing, limited visitor numbers across Ballarat Base Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Centre and aged care sites.

St John of God Healthcare has halted all visitors to its Ballarat hospital until at least next Wednesday due to rising COVID-19 cases in the community.

A spokesperson from Grampians Health Ballarat confirmed community transmission and known active COVID-19 cases numbers were under constant review for all its sites. Any changes will be made clear on the Ballarat Health Services' website and social media channels.

There was a jump in new COVID-19 cases in Ballarat to 429 on Wednesday, up from 320 a day earlier, and the total known active infections in Ballarat climbed back above 2000 cases.

For general wards and patient areas at Grampians Health Ballarat Base Hospital and Queen Elizabeth centre, patients are allowed one visiting session per day for a maximum of two people and for a maximum stay length of two hours.

Strict, registered visiting hours remain in Ballarat Aged Care facilities.

EARLIER, TUESDAY 6PM

St John of God Healthcare will halt all visitors to its Ballarat hospital from Tuesday at midnight due to rising COVID-19 cases in the community.

The healthcare provider announced the late change via its social media channels on Tuesday evening, with a statement reading there was an "escalated risk to our patients and caregivers".

This restriction will remain in place for at least seven days.

Ballarat is the only St John of God Hospital in the state to block visitors with fellow regional hospitals in Geelong, Warrnambool and Bendigo still operating with limited visitor numbers.

IN OTHER NEWS

As of Tuesday evening, Grampians Health Ballarat had not made any changes to its visitor policy since gradually re-opening to visitors under limited numbers on May 2.

Ballarat recorded 320 new cases on Tuesday with 1980 known active infections in the community. This is a drop on last week where Ballarat's active cases topped 2100 known infections.

Under St John of God Ballarat Hospital restrictions, visitor exemptions will be considered for child patients, patients receiving end-of-life care, patients with a disability requiring carer support and maternity patients.

Permitted visitors who are not fully vaccinated are only allowed to visit patients receiving end of life care, and must return a negative Rapid Antigen Test prior to entry.

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