It just seems like last year that we were reporting on awards shows, conferences and film festivals being postponed or going virtual due to COVID-19. Here we go again. The 63rd Grammy Awards reportedly will not take place Jan. 31 at Staples Center, as had been planned. Trevor Noah was scheduled to host the event.
The reason is the same — COVID-19, which is surging in California and especially in L.A. County.
Health and travel concerns were behind the decision by the Recording Academy and broadcaster CBS to put off the show, according to Variety.
Sources told Rolling Stone Tuesday that the academy was hoping to reschedule the ceremony for March, but no new date had been set yet.
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The Grammys ceremony, which usually draws about 18,000 people to L.A.’s Staples Center, had been planned as a largely audience-free show where only presenters and performers would be allowed on-site.
Winners were expected to accept their awards remotely, following the Emmy Awards model.
Since the Thanksgiving holiday, California has faced a surge of Covid-19 infections unparalleled across the United States, leading to continued daily record highs in hospitalizations and deaths.
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Bed capacity in intensive care units has plunged to nearly zero in vast portions of the state as patients rush into hospitals, which are struggling to manage strains on resources and personnel.
“We’re experiencing an explosive and very deadly surge,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer told CNN December 16.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
