HEALTH officials are calling on people with long-term conditions to get their medical checks done before the winter.

They are also keen to do everything to prevent outbreaks of other known diseases during the winter while the coronavirus pandemic is underway.

They suggest people should take up routine vaccinations if they have not had them.

Herefordshire’s public health Karen Wright, also says the summer is an ideal time to stop smoking, exercise more and make healthy diet changes.

“We’ve got this opportunity when those people who’ve got long-term health conditions like, maybe diabetes, that haven’t had those check ups to make sure they are on top of everything,” she said/ “I would urge people to get those checks done before the winter.

“It’s a great time to stop smoking and get fit for the winter. And the other important aspect is vaccinations and immunisations.

“What we don’t want to have is the spread of other conditions which are preventable.

“We haven’t got flu jabs available yet but when they are, I will be urging people to take them up.

“There may be people whose children have not had their immunisations. What we don’t need is preventable things like Measles outbreaks.

“Let’s stop all the preventable things and then we can deal with the things we can’t prevent.

“We know there will be outbreaks, that’s the nature of a pandemic but we are really looking at planning for winter.”