Minister Robert Jenrick tried to pass the buck when asked whether the government had put "neglected the risk to the care sector" in order to prioritise the NHS.
At the daily press conference the Housing Secretary was asked the difficult question over the treatment of care home residents where the high number of deaths has been described as a "tragedy" by the Prime Minister.
But the cabinet minister passed it on to the deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries.
Mr Jenrick said in response to the question from the Metro newspaper: “Jenny can set out how an outbreak is managed and how discharge and testing policies have been developed over time which I think is the heart of the question.
Dr Jenny Harries accepted the question but insisted Mr Jenrick should also reply, saying: "Shall I explain that, and then you can come back…”
In her long answer Dr Harries spoke about the context of managing a public health emergency.
She said there was no "sustained community transmission" before March 13, when the Government's advice that it was "very unlikely" care home residents would become infected with Covid-19 was withdrawn.
She told the press conference: "It needs to be taken in the background of what the epidemiology was at the time of the incident or the advice and that will apply to any documents which Public Health England has produced.
"And I think at that time we did not recognise there was any sustained community transmission - we clearly had cases around."
Earlier in the press conference Mr Jenrick told the press conference: "It's the absolute heart of all we do and are doing in government but I'm sue there's more we can do."
The issue dominated Prime Minister's Questions earlier today.
It follows a row between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer who accused each other of misleading the public over deaths within residential homes.
The PM suggested Keir Starmer had "selectively and misleadingly" quoted from official guidance which said in March that it was "very unlikely" care home residents would become infected with Covid-19.
The Prime Minister and Labour leader clashed over the issue at PMQs in the Commons on Wednesday, during which Mr Johnson admitted that the number of deaths in the sector had been "too high".
Figures released this week suggested that care home deaths accounted for some 40% of coronavirus-related fatalities registered in England and Wales in the week ending May 1.
Sir Keir told MPs the Government had been "too slow to protect people in care homes" and referred to official advice in place until March 12, which said it was "very unlikely" that those receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected.
Mr Johnson replied: "No, it wasn't true that the advice said that, and actually we brought the lockdown in care homes ahead of the general lockdown."
The Labour leader then sent a letter to the PM asking him to "correct the record" in the Commons and to "recognise that this was official Government guidance regarding care homes".
In his reply, Mr Johnson wrote: "I am disappointed that in the House today you chose to quote Public Health England (PHE) advice selectively and misleadingly, and I stand by my comments."
The PM pointed to the sentence preceding the one quoted by Sir Keir, which said the guidance was "intended for the current position in the UK where there is currently no transmission of Covid-19 in the community".
Mr Johnson said the Labour leader "neglected to provide the critical context at the start of the guidance".
