Covid-19 is attacking the young but killing the old, according to statistics from the Western Cape.

The province that has confirmed more than 61% of SA's cases of the virus says more than half were people aged 21-40.

But more than half of the 183 Covid-19 deaths in the Western Cape have been in the 51-70 age group.

The highest fatality rate is in the 71-80 age group, where almost one in six (17.5%) of the 209 people who have contracted the virus have died.

None of the 1,442 under-20s who have caught Covid-19 have died, and the fatality rate is minimal in the 21-30 age group (2,446 cases, two deaths) and the 31-40 age group (2,998 cases, 10 deaths).

The statistics emerge from the Western Cape's Covid-19 dashboard, which is updated daily with data from the provincial health department.

On Tuesday, the province was responsible for more than 70% of new cases and deaths, but its overall fatality rate of 1.73% is lower than the national average of 1.81%.

The province with the highest death rate (2.8%) is KwaZulu-Natal, while in the Eastern Cape it is 1.9% and in Gauteng 1.1%.

In the US, the death rate is 5.95% and for the world it is 6.6%.