French presidential contenders adapt campaign to pandemic

By SYLVIE CORBET
The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The conservative candidate in France’s presidential race says she will adapt her campaign to coronavirus conditions, focusing on social media and staging small gatherings with voters instead of big rallies. Like Republicans Party candidate Valérie Pécresse who says this campaign “won’t look like any other,” contenders running in April’s election are mulling how to reach out to voters amid the pandemic. France has registered record numbers of infections in recent days owed primarily to the highly-contagious omicron variant. The Constitutional Council has said that COVID-19 restrictions cannot apply to political activities in order to ensure fairness. So it’s up to each presidential candidate whether or not to adhere to virus-related rules.