Mr Dowden did appear on rival breakfast show BBC Breakfast as he insisted the UK is not yet planning to cancel events due to coronavirus.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast viewers, he said: “I think all of this is quite premature at this stage.
“We are not anywhere near that sort of stage.
“Any decision will be taken on the basis of the facts and the evidence but we are very clear, at this stage we are still in the contain phase that means there is no need to cancel such events, there is no reason for people not to go to sporting events, to museums and so on.
