The Chinese ministry offered a partial update of its official victim figures, which were last released on Sept. 21, when the official number of children hospitalized for melanine poisoning was at 13,371, reported Agence France-Presse.

Currently, 10,666 children remain hospitalized, while 36,144 have been allowed to return to their homes.

Thousands of others have received outpatient care, but a health ministry spokeswoman told AFP on Thursday that they do not have updated figures on outpatients. On Sept. 21, it was reported that 39,965 children received outpatient care.

Ministry officials also said that while they do have updated figures for the total number of children affected so far by the milk scare, they will not make the information public.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that according to its analysis of local media reports across China, the number of affected children has reached almost 94,000—almost double the number of the ministry's last official count.

Despite the alarming numbers coming from all parts of the country, Chinese officials say that the epidemic is under control and that melanine has not been found in liquid milk in recent tests.