The Senate Republican caucus has presented Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with a five-phase plan to jumpstart Michigan’s economy.

"The Senate Republican caucus believes it is our responsibility to propose a framework for Michiganders to live life in the presence of COVID-19, safely,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake. “Michigan remains an outlier amongst states with strict stay-at-home orders.”

The first phase of the plan calls for businesses that can maintain social distancing and provide personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves for its employees, to be able to operate now, even as both the number of cases and deaths from coronavirus are rising. It calls for residents to wear masks while performing essential tasks, such as grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions.

More:How a Michigan Senate task force would get people back to work amid coronavirus crisis

More:Gov. Whitmer to work with Midwest governors on reopening the economy

The other four phases:

Phase 2 would happen when the number of cases and deaths fall for five out of seven days and healthcare systems are below 75% capacity. Businesses that are closed to the public could operate with appropriate precautions such as social distancing. Those that are open to the public, such as garden centers, could operate with extreme social distancing such as limiting the number of people in the store and making sure aisles are marked so people stay at least six feet away from each other. Outdoor recreational activity, such as golf, could resume as long as appropriate social distancing is practiced. Vulnerable individuals, based on age and health, would continue to stay at home and large gatherings would still be prohibited.

Phase 3 would begin when cases and deaths fall for 17 out of 21 days and hospitals are below 50% capacity. Businesses already open would continue to operate with social distancing. Bars and restaurants could open, but would be limited to 50% capacity with groups spaced six feet apart. Large gatherings of 100 people or less would be allowed. Vulnerable individuals would continue to follow stay-at-home order.

Phase 4 would begin when cases and deaths fall for 19 out of 21 days and hospitals are below 33% capacity. Social businesses, such as gyms, nail and hair salons, and movie theaters, could reopen and bars and restaurants could operate at full seating capacity. Gatherings of less than 250 people would be allowed. Stay at home orders would be lifted for vulnerable people. Mask and social distancing limitations would be removed.

Phase 5 would happen when no active spread of the coronavirus has been reported for 30 days or a vaccine has been available for 30 days. All remaining business restrictions and restrictions on large gatherings, including festivals, concerts and sporting events, would be removed.

The Republican plan also says that parts of the state that haven't had as many coronavirus cases should be able to open up quicker.

Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, called the GOP plan a misstep on a particularly deadly day.

“On the day that Michigan reached 2,000 dead, Senate Republicans issued a haphazard plan that has no input from the frontline responders who are saving lives every day," he said. "I said from the beginning that we’re going to get though this together. One man’s idea is not a plan.”

The GOP report upstages the work being done by a task force, appointed by Shirkey last week, that was expected to submit the first phase of its proposal to Shirkey on Friday.

The bipartisan task force had come up with a more broad outline in its first week of work, but also is reaching out to business owners and workers, through a website — www.MiSafeworkplaces.com — to see how they can begin operating again while keeping employees and customers safe. That input will be incorporated into a final report that is submitted to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, a member of the bipartisan task force, called the GOP plan "ridiculous" on Twitter.

"I serve on the bipartisan work group. We've been having productive conversations & moving toward consensus about safe workplace practices, bringing in public health experts. Now Senate GOP releases its own plan? What happened to bipartisanship?," she tweeted.

Shirkey said he hopes the bipartisan task force will incorporate the work done by the GOP caucus.

The GOP plan comes a day after thousands of people converged on Lansing to protest Whitmer's second stay-at-home order, which has shuttered much of the businesses in the state and mandates that people stay at home in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus until May 1.

Republicans have been especially critical of tighter restrictions in the order, which also bans visits between households, and is more forceful about which businesses have to stay closed, including garden stores and nurseries, as well as landscaping businesses.

Whitmer has said she is just as anxious to get Michigan's economy rolling again, but added those decisions won't happen until the health data on coronavirus will support such a jump start.

"Reengaging our state too soon and too fast will lead to a second wave of coronavirus. And as tough as this is, we know we don’t want to go through this again," she said Wednesday. "Getting it right saves lives and will be better for the economy in the long run."

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.