General practitioners have urged people to continue seeing their doctor for regular check-ups.

Surgeries are using telehealth consultations, such as phone consultations, to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Lowndes Street Clinic principal GP Hany Georgeos said many patients had "completely isolated themselves" to protect against infection, meaning they missed important medical check ups.

Read more: Hospital first to use new telehealth platform for COVID-19 patients

Dr Georgeos said nearly all vulnerable patients were missing appointments, unless the clinic called to reassure them.

He said the clinic was contacting all its vulnerable patients, to check they were okay.

Strathfieldsaye Primary Health clinical director Ewa Piejko said people with chronic disease and respiratory problems need to be checked, as winter was a risky period for other viruses.

Dr Piejko said people had also put off preventative medicine, such as pap smears or children's vaccinations.

The clinic saw a 20-30 per cent drop in patients during the COVID-19 crisis, but numbers were picking up again, she said.

Read more: 'Extremely difficult' for aged care residents to access GP care

Dr Piejko said the introduction of telehealth consultations to the Medicare Benefits Schedule had been a real benefit for general practices.

She urged patients to continue regular checkups, particularly those with chronic diseases.

Dr Piejko said patients should not be worried about coming into the doctor, as safety measures in waiting rooms meant they were probably safer than they'd ever been.

But she said no one with respiratory symptoms should go to their clinic without calling.

At Bendigo Community Health Services doctors were seeing about the same number of patients but by different methods.

Read more: Health system buckling under pressure

Director of Primary Health Care Graem Kelly said doctors were doing a telehealth pre-consult before all appointments, to make sure anyone with a face-to-face appointment was seen in a timely way.

Mr Kelly said this meant in-person appointments stayed under 15 minutes, reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

He said teleheath was offering great assistance to manage risks from COVID-19, but was not preferable for all appointments.

Mr Kelly said patients response to telehealth had been mixed, with some loving it, some prepared to give it ago, and others finding it hard.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.