Michael Gove has apologised after wrongly claiming people may be able to play golf or tennis during when the new Covid-19 lockdown starts. 

The Cabinet Office minister tweeted “I got this wrong” after telling people the government may allow the sports when the new lockdown comes into force on Thursday. 

During an online question and answer session with his constituents on Monday, the MP for Surrey Heath suggested it would be possible to play singles tennis.

He also said “we are looking at” allowing people to play golf with one other person, despite PM Boris Johnson so far resisting calls for golf courses to remain open.

On Tuesday morning, Gove tweeted a link to the government guidance and said: “My apologies, I got this wrong. Outdoor leisure facilities including tennis courts and golf courses will be closed from Thursday.”

Gove was not the only minister adding to the confusion over new measures, however, as Robert Jenrick suggested during an interview that an entire household could meet up with a friend. 

The official guidance states that people in England can exercise or visit outdoor public places either with their household or one person from another household – although children under school-age with a parent will not count towards the limit on two people meeting outside.

On BBC Breakfast, Jenrick suggested households could go for a walk with one other person, and was questioned on the detail.

Presenter Louise Minchin said: “I think I heard you say that outside you can be one household, plus one other person, is that what you meant and is that right?”

Jenrick replied: “Yes, that’s right.”

Minchin said: “So a family could go for a walk, with, for example, a friend?”

The housing secretary answered: “Yes.”

However, when Minchin pressed him, asking whether this applied to four people and one person, Jenrick said: “Yes, so you can go out in your own household, or with one other person.”

Downing Street later corrected Jenrick, pointing out that he would only have been correct to make his statement if he was referring to “support bubbles” that help people who live alone to mingle with another household.

Asked about his comments, the PM’s official spokesperson said: “In the context of a support bubble that would be correct. So, a household could meet up with their support bubble which could be a single parent or a grandparent for example and they could go for a walk in the park.

“Separately, what the regulations will say is that, either you can go to exercise or take recreation in the park with your household – or alternatively, it could be one plus one. One person from one household could go to the park with one person from another.”

Boris Johnson’s government is also under pressure from Nicola Sturgeon to clarify whether the furlough scheme could be extended further if Scotland decides to follow England into a lockdown.

Johnson told Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross on Monday that “if other parts of the UK decide to go into measures which require the furlough scheme then of course it’s available to them, that has to be right and that applies not just now but of course in the future as well”.

But Jenrick appeared to row back on that on Tuesday saying that if Scotland were to be locked down after November, it would be a decision for chancellor Rishi Sunak as to what support was available for Scots. 

Sturgeon tweeted “we need clarity on this urgently today”, adding that “woolly words don’t pay people’s wages”.

Downing Street again clarified Jenrick’s remarks, insisting the PM had made the position clear on Monday.

“The PM set out the position of the government, the furlough scheme is a UK-wide scheme that is available where needed,” the spokesperson said.

“If other parts of the UK decided to go into measures which require direct economic support, of course we will make that available to them.”

The PM has been criticised over his handling of the second lockdown, which was announced at a hastily-arranged press conference on Saturday after some of the details leaked, and it appeared on Tuesday that not all ministers are fully on top of the new arrangements.

England’s lockdown will end on December 2, with the government hoping to reintroduce a localised tiered system of restrictions.

Johnson hopes that a mass testing campaign, using equipment which can deliver a result in a matter of minutes, could be a route out of the coronavirus crisis.

A pilot scheme in Liverpool will see half a million people offered regular testing from Friday, with 2,000 military personnel helping with the logistics.

Johnson was chairing a meeting of his Cabinet on Tuesday ahead of MPs voting on the lockdown measures on Wednesday.