Surgeon here. We use the PCR test pre op on all patients. The sensitivity and specificity is sufficient with some variability between vendors (ie the company that supplies the kits) and likely the actual labs processing the tests. The stats that would really round out the answer to your question are Positive Predictive Value and Negative Predictive Value. I've not seen these stats nor do I care enough at this point to investigate. I mention this in case someone wants to consult Dr. Google and report back here.
Why don't I care? Testing has kept 100% of our surgeons healthy through the pandemic; a few other non surgeon OR staff have gotten non fatal COVID. We've had two non OR providers die from COVID. Both healthy and endurance athletes; aged 45 and early 30's; non surgeons. These two unfortunate souls probably got COVID from treating COVID patients so a negative test wasn't something that would've helped them.
Put another way, testing seems to have kept most of us healthy as we roam around a workplace that is a virus factory. Testing appears to have helped surgeons avoid the death rate surgeons were experiencing in the early days in China and Italy where they were subjected to inadvertent massive viral exposure (cytokine storm seems to be linked to how much virus you get exposed to at once).
I realize this testimonial doesn't really answer the OP as it relates to testing outside of the application to exposure of healthcare workers. While it isn't black and white science, maybe this experience lends some validity to testing in high risk situations as we await the many retrospective studies on what is occurring right now.
Also, I don't care because I am late for rounds at the hospital...
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