If I remember right, Dena Higley had a tweet, sometime in Sept. saying Drake Hogestyn (John) was "in the building". At the time, no one knew if that meant back to work, or just visiting. Well, evidently he was back working, but the show was having him come back slowly. The word is it is probably April....(However, we know how they have several scenes filmed at once, and put them into 1/2 dozen different episodes over a period of time.
Joe Mascolo (Stefano) would come in once a month.....his scenes were all filmed that day, then spread out over a month's time.
No idea even how often Drake Hogestyn (John) has been coming in, as we really have not seen much in the way of backstage photos that include him.