CAIRO  - Saudi Arabia has brought forward its nightly curfew by four hours in three areas to combat the coronavirus epidemic, state news agency SPA said.

From Friday, the curfew will begin at 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) instead of 7 p.m. in the city of Dammam and the governorates of Taif and al-Qatif, SPA said, quoting a senior interior ministry official. The curfew is lifted at 6 a.m.

Saudi Arabia has recorded 1,885 infections and 21 deaths, the most among any of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, which also include Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

The port of Dammam, on the Gulf, is a main entry point for supplies for the oil industry centered in the eastern region and for the rest of the kingdom.

(Reporting by Samar Hassan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Angus MacSwan) ((Samar.Hassan@thomsonreuters.com;))