Grammy Awards indefinitely postponed as Omicron spreads

The organization behind the Grammys on Wednesday postponed the music awards gala scheduled for January 31 due to “uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant” of Covid-19 that has ripped through the United States in recent weeks.

Minutes later, the prestigious Sundance film festival -- which was set to begin January 20 in Park City, Utah -- announced it was shifting all of its premieres and events online, a move it deemed necessary “despite the most ambitious protocols.”

In a statement, the Recording Academy said that “holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks,” and it would announce a rescheduled date “soon.”

The heavily mutated Omicron variant, the most transmissible to date, accounted for around 95 percent of US cases in the week ending January 1.

The wave that began in December has cases running at nearly 500,000 a day in the United States, according to the latest CDC figures, with new hospitalizations also rising -- though numbers of new deaths have remained largely flat, likely due in part to vaccine availability. 

Still, the World Health Organization in Europe has sounded an ominous note of caution on Tuesday, warning the soaring infection rates could have the opposite effect.

“The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience, and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority,” the Recording Academy said in explaining its decision to postpone.

Sundance organizers echoed that sentiment: “While it is a deep loss to not have the in-person experience in Utah, we do not believe it is safe nor feasible to gather thousands of artists, audiences, employees, volunteers, and partners from around the world, for an eleven-day festival. ”