South African Covid strain: Testing in Maidstone | Updated: 20:37, 02 February 2021 A large-scale operation to test 10,000 people for the South African variant of coronavirus which could take up to five days has begun. Yesterday it was announced door-to-door testing would be carried out by members of the emergency services, asking residents in parts of the ME15 postcode to comply. Watch: Door-to-door testing begins in Maidstone as emergency service workers pound the street It comes after a resident from the town tested positive for the variant despite having no links to travel or other variant cases. Kent County Council (KCC) this morning released a list of the specific postcodes which will be targeted, including some in ME16 and ME17.