UK readies for major reopening but new variant sparks worry
FILE - In this file photo dated Tuesday, June 5, 2018, a plane takes off over a road sign near Heathrow Airport in London. Travelers are packing their bags, café-owners are polishing their cutlery and stage performers are warming up as Britain prepared for a major step out of lockdown. But excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety about a more contagious variant spreading in the country. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file)

FILE - In this file photo dated Tuesday, June 5, 2018, a plane takes off over a road sign near Heathrow Airport in London. Travelers are packing their bags, café-owners are polishing their cutlery and stage performers are warming up as Britain prepared for a major step out of lockdown. But excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety about a more contagious variant spreading in the country. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file)

May. 16, 2021 08:38 AM EDT
Caroline Atkinson, owner of the Rose Coffee House poses for a photo as she prepares to reopen, in Belmont, Durham, England, Thursday May 13, 2021. Travelers are packing their bags, café-owners are polishing their cutlery and stage performers are warming up as Britain prepared for a major step out of lockdown. But excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety about a more contagious variant spreading in the country (Tom Wilkinson/PA via AP)

Caroline Atkinson, owner of the Rose Coffee House poses for a photo as she prepares to reopen, in Belmont, Durham, England, Thursday May 13, 2021. Travelers are packing their bags, café-owners are polishing their cutlery and stage performers are warming up as Britain prepared for a major step out of lockdown. But excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety about a more contagious variant spreading in the country (Tom Wilkinson/PA via AP)

May. 16, 2021 08:40 AM EDT
Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel receives her first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from Dr. Vin Diwakar at Guys Hospital in London, Saturday May 15, 2021. (Stefan Rousseu/PA via AP)

Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel receives her first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from Dr. Vin Diwakar at Guys Hospital in London, Saturday May 15, 2021. (Stefan Rousseu/PA via AP)

May. 15, 2021 06:52 AM EDT
FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 file photo, signs for Les Miserables are displayed on the temporarily closed Gielgud Theatre during England's third coronavirus lockdown in London. Travelers are packing their bags, café-owners are polishing their cutlery and stage performers are warming up as Britain prepared for a major step out of lockdown. But excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety about a more contagious variant spreading in the country (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 file photo, signs for Les Miserables are displayed on the temporarily closed Gielgud Theatre during England's third coronavirus lockdown in London. Travelers are packing their bags, café-owners are polishing their cutlery and stage performers are warming up as Britain prepared for a major step out of lockdown. But excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety about a more contagious variant spreading in the country (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

May. 16, 2021 08:40 AM EDT
Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock gestures as he arrives at BBC Broadcasting House for his appearance on the current affairs programme, The Andrew Marr Show, in London, Sunday May 16, 2021. Cases of a virus variant first identified in India have more than doubled in a week, defying a sharp nationwide downward trend in infections won by months of restrictions and a rapid vaccination campaign. Hancock said the variant, formally known as B.1.617.2, is more transmissible than the U.K.’s main strain, and “it is likely it will become the dominant variant.” (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock gestures as he arrives at BBC Broadcasting House for his appearance on the current affairs programme, The Andrew Marr Show, in London, Sunday May 16, 2021. Cases of a virus variant first identified in India have more than doubled in a week, defying a sharp nationwide downward trend in infections won by months of restrictions and a rapid vaccination campaign. Hancock said the variant, formally known as B.1.617.2, is more transmissible than the U.K.’s main strain, and “it is likely it will become the dominant variant.” (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

May. 16, 2021 06:48 AM EDT