A long line of worried parents carrying their babies stood in the courtyard of Renmin Hospital of north Hebei Province on Wednesday.

Some arrived around 5:00 AM, two hours before the hospital opened. Their children all drank formula made by the Sanlu Group.

Three children died and a total of 6,244 infants are now confirmed sick after drinking milk powder contaminated by melamine. Of those, 1,327 babies, the majority newborns, remain hospitalized.

Peng Jing, a mother in her twenties, was cuddling her two-month-old son in her arms. At the same time, Peng's husband registered the baby for sonographic scans of his kidney and urine tests.

"My son only drank about two small bags of Sanlu powdered milk," said Peng. "He seems OK, but we want to be 100 percent sure he is healthy so we came to have the tests."

The Chinese government promised to cover exam fees and treatment for all children diagnosed with kidney diseases caused by the contaminated milk.

The Renmin Hospital, the city's largest, examined about 470 children on Tuesday. As of Wed. morning, doctors had already seen 500 patients. More were expected in the afternoon.

In all, around 2,000 children came to the hospital for tests between September 12 and 16, said a source at Renmin.

"On September 12, about 70 children came to our hospital for kidney tests. The figure was unusually high," said a hospital official with the surname of Sui. He was reluctant to give his full name. "The number of parents seeking tests increased even faster in the following days."

Doctors, nurses and administrative staff are all mobilized to receive the large influx of child patients.

A booth was set up in the hospital's courtyard to seat children and their parents as the registration hall was too small. Each child was given a number card so testing could be done individually.

The hospital's five sonographic scanners were in full operation. Sui said two new machines, bought by the government, will arrive Wednesday night.

"We had to persuade some parents to postpone the scans, unless their child was in serious condition," Sui said.

Five babies have been admitted to Renmin, none with life threatening conditions.

"Once the children drink enough water, the very tiny stones could be washed out," said Sui.

In Hebei Province, about 1,500 children have been diagnosed with kidney problems, and 150 of them were hospitalized on Tuesday, said the provincial government.

According to the Ministry of Health, children should not to be hospitalized if the kidney stone is smaller than 4 mm in diameter.

Some parents worry that policy won't help their children get healthy.

Wang Lifang rushed to Renmin Hospital Wednesday morning with her two-month-old daughter from her hometown in Xingtang County, which is 45 km from Shijiazhuang.

"The county hospital found my daughter has kidney stones that are smaller than 4 mm," said the farmer in her thirties. "My daughter is so young that the doctors worry the stones might not be washed out themselves so they told me to go to the provincial hospital."

As of Tuesday evening, the little girl did not eat but did drink some water.

"Doctors said I better not feed her powdered milk," explained a tearful Wang. "In the past few days, I fed her fresh milk bought from a neighbor who raises a cow but once I left home I did not know what to do."

She has an 11-year-old son who also drank Sanlu powdered milk when he was born and did not have time to get him examined.

"I have to take care of my younger daughter first. I hope doctors here can tell me whether or not she has to stay in the hospital. If so, I hope the government or the Sanlu Group can pay for the treatment."

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2008)