Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Sunday that he believes that returning to the office will be a reality for many employees due to a partial decline in COVID-19 cases.

Appearing on CBS News' “Face The Nation,” Gottlieb said workers can return to workplaces at the start of March.

“Yeah, I think that's timeline still intact, you're seeing a lot of businesses make decisions to do, return to work March 1st because I think they want to give themselves a cushion, especially having been surprised before,” Gottlieb said.

Some parts of the country are still dealing with outbreaks, but Gottlieb believes that a decline in cases in the eastern U.S. still offers hope for work offices to reopen.

“Across the United States, there's still states that are probably in the thick of this. They have another week, maybe two weeks to go until they peak and start to come down. But in places like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., you're seeing cases decline very rapidly. And I think that thesis around a February return is intact,” Gottlieb said.

The CDC Covid Data Tracker reported that there is currently about 700,000 new COVID cases a day, and a seven-day average of 2,100 for daily deaths.