As regions around the country have begun to lift restrictions for more and more businesses and companies, Americans  who have been working from home or furloughed are returning en masse to their workspaces. But COVID-19 is far from over, with a second wave of cases wreaking havoc in 21 states. So how can you get back to life and work without risking your health or your family's? For the answers we caught up with Dr. George Fallieras, Medical Director of biotech startup BioCorRx and ER doctor at the LA Surge Hospital. Besides working with many COVID-infected patients, including those in the ICU, Fallieras has had and recovered from coronavirus himself. He's seen the virus' impacts first hand  and knows how important prevention and safety can be. Read on to learn about Dr. Fallieras' advice for staying healthy in hard times!

Assume You Have COVID

The most important thing about returning to the office, the cafe, the childcare center, or wherever you are working and gathering with others, Dr. Fallieras explained, is to assume that you're a carrier for the virus at all times. As we know, the incubation period for COVID-19 is long--up to 14 days. That's why it's important that everyone respect social distancing and be  extremely mindful about surfaces and handwashing.

"The best way to conduct yourself as an individual, rather than a business, is to act as all times as if you are contagious and you don't want to pass this on even you're young and healthy yourself...you also should act as if everyone you come in contact with is contagious as well," said Fallieras.

We should act at all times the way we might have before the pandemic if we knew we had the cold or flu– not touching others or sharing objects, not breathing on others (wear your mask!) and generally being respectful of those around us.

Take Precautions

As you return to work, Fallieras explained, there will be times you need to break social distancing guidelines. But for the most part, you should keep desks, tables and other gathering areas 6 feet apart and stay 6 feet  away from coworkers. In addition, the precautions you've been taking in normal life, like hand washing and wearing masks, are even more important in your work environment.

"Everyone should be wearing masks, there should be vigorous hand washing, everyone should be incessantly washing their hands and using sanitizer. We think COVID probably spreads more readily through airborne particles rather than surfaces, but we have to very careful, because the recommendations keep changing," Fallieras added.

Fallieras also suggested taking preventative measures to strengthen your immune system as you prepare to return to work, including taking as many immune boosting vitamins as possible and managing  "I recommend to my patients and family members that everyone should take Vitamin C, zinc, and Vitamin D, " he said. "If you have pre-existing medical conditions, like high blood pressure, you should be working hard to manage those."

Balance Risk

Returning to work will come with risk.  It won't be completely safe, but might be much more risky depending on your profession and your own health, like whether you have pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or autoimmune diseases. You should consider whether your job allows you to distance from others and how high risk for coronavirus as you prepare for returning to work. "We can't shut down the economy and the world forever, we do have to emerge, but we have to do it smart. People are going to have to accept the risk benefit ratio. And if you're very high risk, there are going to be things you're not going to want to do," Fallieras said.

"There's a risk, of course, but life's a risk, and you need to do your best to be careful but you also can't stay incarcerated in your apartment," he added.

Shelter in place/lockdown was never intended to be permanent, Fallieras explained, but rather just gave us the time we needed to develop treatments, allow hospitals to prepare and collectively adjust to the realities of COVID-19. "Shutdowns were helpful because we didn't know what we were dealing with, and we didn't want our healthcare systems overloaded--it bought us the time we needed to sort out better treatment modalities, accelerate vaccine research and collect convalescent plasma," he said.

Fallieras is hopeful that we can now move on  from lockdown without losing sight of the importance of taking precautions in our workplaces  and homes. "We have to be smart, without shutting down the entire world economy," he said.