President Obama on Wednesday night canceled his planned travel on Thursday, for the second straight day, so he could stay at the White House to oversee the government’s response to the Ebola crisis, officials said.

Mr. Obama had been scheduled to travel to Rhode Island on Thursday for an economic-themed speech before continuing on to New York City to raise money for Democratic candidates in next month’s midterm elections.

Officials said the president would “follow up” Thursday on a meeting he held Wednesday with members of his cabinet who are responsible for confronting the spread of the virus in West Africa and its arrival in the United States.

The ramped-up response inside the White House came as a second nurse, Amber Joy Vinson, tested positive for Ebola in Dallas after helping treat a Liberian patient, raising new concerns about the protocols for containing the spread of the deadly virus and heightening fears among the public.