DHAKA: US president Barack Obama commended New Yorkers for their calm reaction to the city’s first case of Ebola and told Americans in his weekly address that the response to domestic cases of the deadly disease needs to be based on ‘facts, not fear’.

It was the second week in a row that Obama used his address to speak directly to Americans about the response to Ebola, which has turned into a political issue in the days leading up to November 4 congressional elections.

‘We have to be guided by the facts, not fear,’ Obama said, ‘Yesterday, New Yorkers showed us the way. They did what they do every day: jumping on buses, riding the subway, crowding into elevators, heading into work, gathering in parks,’ he said.

Obama praised the fast response by New York City officials in isolating and treating Dr Craig Spencer, a humanitarian aid worker who tested positive for Ebola on Thursday, the fourth person diagnosed with the virus in the United States.

BDST: 1714 HRS, OCT 25, 2014