The 2021 Grammy Awards has been postponed amid growing concerns over the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States.

According to Rolling Stone magazine, the star-studded gala, which was initially slated for Sunday, January 31, has its future in indefinite limbo as organisers eye a possible March rescheduling.

“Organizers have not confirmed a new date, but sources say they are aiming to hold the event sometime in March,” Rolling Stone reported.

The sudden suspension of the awards—at a time when the Recording Academy had previously planned a limited, virtual event—amplifies worries that at the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on host city Los Angeles.

According to data retrieved from the Public Health Department, LA County has confirmed 9,142 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.

The county has a staggering COVID positivity rate of 19.4 per cent, a significant uptick since cases began to surge in December 2020, when the rate hovered around 13 per cent.

Patient hospitalisations, some 7,697 currently, is among the highest in the United States, while LA County recorded 77 new coronavirus-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 10, 850.

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, the hospital system in LA County has been stretched so thin that COVID-19 patients are often forced to wait in ambulances for hours until hospital beds open up, while the county’s Emergency Medical Services Agency has directed ambulance crews to ration oxygen and not transfer patients who have virtually no chance of surviving.