“It was a strange feeling to be in a quiet lab all by myself and yet feel this immense gravity of a brewing storm looming overhead.”
At the time, it was still unknown how contagious the virus was, so for everyone’s safety Mr. Oommen worked on a separate floor from his colleagues.
Mr. Oommen, 29, is a survivor of childhood trauma and lived with a seriously ill parent for 19 years. For him, creativity has been a critical component of healing.
Since April, he has been deconstructing bright biohazard labels with scissors, then reconstructing them with surgical precision on the floor of his Manhattan apartment.
While walking home from the lab one eerily quiet morning, he recalled a book he had read while earning his toxicology degree: Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” about the dangers of pesticides.
Most people recognize that doctors and emergency medical technicians are on the front line of the pandemic. But medical technologists are too, Mr. Oommen noted.
Thus far, Mr. Oommen has made a dozen pieces for “The Biohazard Collection,” which he plans to donate to the New-York Historical Society.
“So much of my life revolved around being in a state of crisis, always on the lookout for the next storm on the horizon,” he said. “I just never expected this one and yet, I am strangely prepared.”
