New York City’s former Covid czar has admitted to participating in what he called “private gatherings” attended by multiple people while the rest of the city was on lockdown and large get-togethers were prohibited during the pandemic.

The former senior public health adviser under Mayor Bill de Blasio was secretly recorded on camera admitting to participating in sex and dance parties while instructing New Yorkers to practice social distancing at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The only way I could do this job for the city was if I had some way to blow off steam every now and then,’ Dr Jay Varma can be heard saying in one clip