Gore Health was temporarily forced to stop admissions to its inpatient ward on Sunday following a sudden influx of patients testing positive for Covid-19.
However, chief executive Karl Metzler said it was hoped the hospital would be back to normal operations again by noon today.
Mr Metzler said six patients and three staff were confirmed as Covid-19 positive at the weekend.
Staff were following standard infection prevention and control measures, including limiting visitors to the inpatient area and introducing mandatory mask use within the facility, he said.
While staff were recovering at home, the number of patients had dropped to four yesterday and two of them were asymptomatic and discharged yesterday afternoon.
The final two were being kept in isolated wards and expected to be asymptomatic today, ready for discharge this morning.
The maternity unit and the emergency department were not affected and remained open throughout the incident, he said.
"We do ask that people wear a mask in the hospital for the coming few days.
"And, also, to limit your visiting if you do have family or loved ones that are currently in the ward.
"If you're experiencing symptoms, try to avoid visiting — for now."
He said it had not had a major impact on the hospital’s operations.
"I think it's probably more annoying and frustrating than anything, because obviously there's the two base hospitals in Dunedin and Invercargill, which are wanting to send patients back to us, and currently we're not able to take those patients back."
He said the reopening of admissions to Gore Health would "alleviate pressure" on the base hospitals.
While Mr Metzler was not aware of there being an increase in cases of Covid-19 in the community, he said there might well be cases out there.
He urged Gore residents to take precautions if they had symptoms because the town had an "older, vulnerable" population and it would be disastrous if they were exposed to the virus.
He said all six patients who tested positive were locals.
"But we have had a lot of out-of-town visitors because the ward was pretty full over Christmas ... we had a number of family home or visiting from out of town.
"So that's likely our vector.
"It’s not what we wanted for Christmas — not the best present — but hey, you have to keep looking on the bright side."
